The Zoologist/4th series, vol 4 (1900)/Issue 712/Notices of New Books
NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS.
This is a book to be welcomed by ornithologists; its authors are naturalists of repute; it has received assistance from most Irish ornithologists; Mr. R.M. Barrington has supplied much unpublished information collected from light-keepers; the records reproduced have been well sifted, and the whole book exhibits a scientific method that may serve for imitation by some writers of county faunas. Thompson's 'Natural History of Ireland,' which still contained the greatest treatise on Irish ornithology, was published some fifty years ago, and the present book will naturally now succeed if for present-day information.
Of birds that have ceased to be residents are the Crane, the Great Auk, and the Capercailzie; on the other hand, the Magpie, first reported in Ireland towards the end of the seventeenth century, has spread rapidly, "and is now to be seen everywhere, except on the barest moorlands." The Starling has increased as a breeding species, and the steady extension of this bird's "summer range in Ireland is of a piece with what has taken place in Scotland"; Woodcocks have greatly increased in the Irish woodlands during the summer; and the Mistle-Thrush, of which the first Irish example known to Thompson was shot in 1808, is now "resident, common, and widely distributed." The Tufted Duck is also another bird which, during the last twenty years, has extended its breeding range, while a similar remark applies to the Stock-Dove, so that at least the feathered population of Ireland is not diminishing.
It is cheerful for English naturalists of our south coast to read that in Ireland no bird is more characteristic of the cliff-scenery than the Chough, and "in no country probably does it flourish in its natural strongholds more undisturbed." Although the Chough and the Jackdaw are reported by Mr. Ussher as not apparently molesting one another, "still, the increase of the Jackdaw has been observed in many places to coincide with the diminution of the red-billed bird." The Crested Lark has been once obtained in Ireland, and it is interesting to read that it was shot by the well-known war correspondent, Sir W.H. Russell, then a boy of fifteen, who under the letters "W.R." communicated the fact to the 'Dublin Penny Journal' in 1836. It will probably not be known to all that the Stone-Curlew is in Ireland a "rare casual visitor, chiefly in winter, but never in summer," and that it has only been obtained in ten cases. Many interesting facts and suggestions are given respecting the Guillemot. Mr. Ussher remarks that as incubation proceeds the eggs become so completely covered with filth that he has seen many cemented thereby to the rock, which may account for the exaggerated statement that the bird has the power of gluing them to the rock to keep them from falling off. He also suggests that the beautiful varieties of colouring in the eggs "must help each bird to distinguish her eggs from others lying near, until they become all stained and soiled."
We could, but must not, extract other notes from this history of Irish birds, which is, and will long remain, the standard work on the subject. It is a story well told, and a treatise well written, embellished with the reproduction of some well-selected photographs, and with a coloured plate exhibiting variations in the tints and markings of the eggs of the Peregrine Falcon.
The purpose and scope of this publication is distinctly enunciated by the author. It is "to give such description and details as may enable anyone who becomes interested in these beautiful birds to recognise such species as he will see in collections on ornamental waters, like that of St. James's Park, or find on sale with the dealers, and to treat them successfully if he decides to take up the Fancy on his own account."
It is thus addressed more to the aviculturist than to the strict ornithologist, though the division between these two students is very difficult to maintain. A live bird must necessarily afford more information than a preserved skin; on the other hand, the opportunities of acquiring the first are infinitesimal compared with the vast available material of the second. Consequently we must look to the cabinet ornithologist for our general knowledge, and to the field naturalist and the aviculturist for bionomical information. Mr. Finn has provided an excellent help to those who wish to keep waterfowl—we must plead guilty to a strong dislike of the word "Fancy"; and his knowledge of zoology and position in the Indian Museum entitle him to write as one in authority, and not as the "Fanciers."
This is the first instalment of a series of monographs relating to Church Stretton, of which those on Botany, Archæology, Climatology, and Ornithology are in preparation, and will appear subsequently.
This neighbourhood was described by J.G. Jeffreys as "the picturesque locality of Stretton in Shropshire"; and Mr. Newnham refers to it as "a district of hill and dale, of moorland, wood, and stream." Consequently it is a spot worthy of a local natural historian, and when a body of naturalists unite to describe its fauna, flora, geology, and other natural features, and do so in an exhaustive manner, we recognize a very useful addition to British natural history.
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
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