Rambles of a Naturalist in Egypt and other Countries. By
J. H. Gurney, Jun. (Jerrold and Sons.)—Without pretending to estimate the scientific value of Mr. Gurney's- book, we can honestly recommend it to the ornithologist, on account of the genuine enthusiasm for know- ledge which it displays. Mr. Gurney relates a visit to Russia which he paid in the summer of 1869, another which he made to the Algerian Sahara in the January of the following year, while he occupies the greater part of his volume with a copious account of the ornithology of the Nile valley, founded on his own experiences in Egypt in the former half of last year. His list of Egyptian birds numbers 220. The book, on the whole, is of the technical kind, but the general reader will find a certain interest in it. We observe that Mr. Gurney discards the common belief that the swallow winters in Algeria. It is certain, indeed, that swallows are found there long after they have left our shores. Whither they go afterwards is a mystery. Probably they make a vague migration southward, and reach different spots as the circumstances of the season vary.
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