The Bookman 
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NEW ZEALAND BIRD-SONG 
A FASCINATING VOLUME. 
“ Bird-song and New Zealand Song 
Birds. By Johannes C. Andersen, 
F.N.Z.Inst. Whitcombe and Tombs, 
Ltd. 
Why do the birds sing? Is there 
any analogy between the songs of the 
denizens of the forest and the vocal 
outpourings of human beings? Is it 
possible to record accurately by means 
. of our modern musical notation the 
ecstatic singing of a blackbird or 
thrush? These and maily alike ques¬ 
tions Mr. Andersen seeks to solve in 
“Bird-song and New Zealand Song 
Birds. ’* At once an incomparable na¬ 
turalist and a poet, Mr. Andersen pre- 
»>«nts a volume unique in the literature 
of ornithology either in New Zealand 
or any other country, and one . does 
2: not know which to admire most, his ex- , 
traordinary patience as an observer of 
Nature or his facile manner in record 
ing his observations. Into his descrip¬ 
tion of the birds of New Zealand he 
deftly weaves his unbounded know¬ 
ledge of Maori lore and mythology, 
producing as the result one of the most 
fascinating natural history volumes im¬ 
aginable. 
BIRD MINSTRELSY: ITS MUSICAL 
NOTATION. 
The mere account of the habits, nests, 
and eggs of the New Zealand birds, 
with the extraordinary fine photogra¬ 
phic reproductions, is enough m itself 
to make the book one of extreme value 
to naturalists. But Mr. Andersen goes 
very much further than, this; m fact, 
the object of the volume may be said 
to be the placing on record by means 
