Curious Creatures : their Ways and Habits. By Marianne Bell.
(St. Anselm's Society.)—These are some very pleasantly written studies of seals, sea-lions, otters, moles, and other beasts, birds, and fishes, containing much interesting information. As an instance of Miss Bell's powers of description, the reader may be referred to the account of the arrival of the northern eared seals, or sea-lions, at the Aleutian Isles in the North Pacific, whither they go to rear their families. About the middle of May, the males appear and take up their position in regular order on the coast, the first arrivals securing the places nearest to the water. Directly the females reach the land, a fierce contest ensues, each lion securing as many of these mild, un- resisting mates as he can. All this is described by Miss Bell with considerable power of graphic presentation. The book can be safely recommended to all who are interested in the strange world of creatures around us, whose likeness and unlikeness to ourselves are equally mysterious.
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