4 FEBRUARY 1928, Page 20

In contrast with this authoritative account of one aspect •

of bird-life, Mr. William Coles Finch's massive volume on " nature " (The Lure of the Countryside, C. W. Daniel, 21s.) is not attractive. It needs pruning. The very phrase " lure of the countryside betrays a townsman mentality. The true countryman does not speak of " lures " and " calls " for the good reason that the land he lives or travels on foot in, is . part of his life. Yet Mr. Finch can write, and if his book had beta edited by a naturalist and cut down to half its present length, it could have been made into a series of readable essays on some aspects of country life in Kent.