738 Recently published Ornithological Works. 
for the Birds occupy much of the first volume, and a section 
on the Wild-fowl of the Dee is included in the second. The 
authors have rightly extended the political boundary of the 
county so as to take in Liverpool Bay—chiefly for the sake 
of the “marine fish-fauna”—and “many square miles of: 
marshes^ in Flintshire; which naturally belong to the country 
watered by the well-known Cheshire river. A commencement 
is made with a description of the physical features of the 
district; the changes that have taken place inland and on 
the shores; and the gradual increase of the towns and their 
population; and with this are incorporated many interesting 
notices of the species of birds that of old inhabited the 
Mosses characteristic of the area; the marshes and lakes now 
drained or still existing, and the brine “ flashes 55 still in 
process of formation. 
Next follows an account of the scanty literature of the 
past, and a section on the preservation of Game; whence we 
pass on to the Mammals. But we are only concerned here 
with the portion of the work referring to Birds, to which is 
prefixed a separate or special Introduction. In this we learn 
that the following species have been added to the county 
list since Messrs. Coward and Oldham published their f Birds 
of Cheshire ’ in the year 1900 :—the Cirl Bunting, the Mealy 
Bedpoll, the Woodchat-Shrike, the Shore-Lark, the Shag, 
the American Blue-winged Teal, the Kentish Plover, Schlegel’s 
Petrel, and Baillon's Crake. 
An excellent account is given of the 231 species of Birds 
which have been satisfactorily proved to have occurred in 
Cheshire during the present or the last century, though 
the habits are discussed at unusual length for a local 
fauna, and this part of the book might perhaps have been 
shortened with advantage. About 112 of these birds breed or 
have bred recently within the chosen boundaries, even when we 
omit such as the Marsh- and Hen-Harriers, the Bittern, the 
Oystercatcher, and the Terns, with regard to which no definite 
records have been preserved. We may call special attention 
in this connexion to the example of Querquedula discors , 
shot on the Dee estuary some fifty years ago, and to the 
