4 DECEMBER 1897, Page 12

My Garden, Orchard, and Spinney. By Phil Robinson. (Isbister and

Co.)—Mr Phil Robinson is as entertaining as usual. He goes on watching birds as closely as ever, and is always discovering new things about them. One of the things which we learn from him is that instinct is not by any means unerring. We fancy that birds, for instance, always act with a purpose which, as far as it goes, is clear and adapted to its good. Why, then, does a marsh-tit carry off food and hide it in places where it never thinks of looking for it again, dropping it, for instance, into a hollow tree ? The rooks are sometimes as inconsequent as human beings. Let any one read about the two couples and the unattached bird which Mr. Robinson describes. This is a quite delightful volume.