NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS.
The best way of reviewing a new edition is obviously to compare it with the original. In the present case, however, this would scarcely be fair, for a glance only is needed to show that the editor has nearly doubled the size of the work by extending the boundaries of the region treated of, from the twenty-eighth parallel of latitude (the limit originally fixed by the author) to the Zambesi on the east coast, and the Quanza on the west coast of Africa. It should be remembered also that when Mr. Layard wrote his book, in 1867, he did so under great disadvantages. Far removed from European libraries and collections, he was prevented from making many references and comparisons that were most desirable, and in many cases he had to rely upon naturalists at home for the identification of the rarer and more obscure species. In view of these difficulties, the wonder is that his shortcomings have proved to be so few. It may be truly said that, with the exception perhaps of Jerdon's 'Birds of India,' no work has done more for the Ornithology of a country than this of Mr. Layard's, and no greater proof of its utility can be found than the large increase in the number of workers who have commenced original researches in Ornithology since it appeared.
In preparing this new edition, it is evident that Mr. Sharpe has bestowed upon it considerable time and trouble. Not content with revising the text so as to bring it lo a level with the knowledge of the present day, he has carefully gone through all the works bearing on the subject published prior to the first edition, and has reproduced the excellent notes by Mr. Ayres on the birds of Natal which Mr. Layard for want of space was compelled to omit.
Especial pains seem to have been taken with the geographical distribution, the range of the various birds being carefully traced throughout the different districts of South Africa.
