18 The Queensland Naturalist November 1949 
BOOK REVIEWS 
By S. T. B. 
When a book written by A. H. Chisholm is received, 
we can be assured of very pleasant and profitable read- 
ing. “Bird Wonders of Australia,’’ has just reached 
us in a revised and enlarged third edition, which con- 
tains the results of some very recent observations. The 
thirty chapters of the book are arranged in two approxi- 
mately equal parts. The first fifteen chapters deal with 
many groups of birds with detailed accounts of their 
habits. Bower-birds, cuckoos, lyre-birds, mound- 
builders, parrots, pigeons, birds with “long legs and 
long toes,” “masters of the ocean” and other birds are 
cheerfully described in intimate detail in a way that 
ever holds the attention of the reader. The second half 
of the book is concerned with various relations between 
bird and bird, and bird and other animals (including 
man), various types of habits, nests, wanderings, voices, 
etc., and miscellaneous observations. The book is pro- 
fusely illustrated by an extraordinarily fine series of 
photographs from various sources. An extensive index 
adds considerably to the usefulness of the book. It is 
published by Angus and Robertson Ltd., and is obtain- 
able at all booksellers at 15/-. 
“News from Nature,” by the same author (Georgian 
House, Melbourne) , is a series of chatty little sketches 
describing features of the. bushland, chiefly near Mel- 
bourne, characteristic of the four seasons of the year — 
twelve for each season. The book is well illustrated by 
numerous excellent photographs, chiefly of birds with 
some orchids for variety, and a few coloured plates 
including two pages of exceptionally fine reproductions 
of paintings of Mrs. Ellis Rowan, of crinoline fungi 
(frontispiece) and “vegetable corals.” It is a compan- 
ionable book which will be popular with all nature- 
lovers. 
