Mr. Massingham's new book, Birds of the Seashore (Werner Laurie,
lOs. 6d.), is concerned entirely with birds that live on the shore or in marshes near the sea. It is a big book with many illustrations, and is arranged in such a way as to be easily used for reference. But to those who admire Mr. Massingham's writing the book will be rather a disappoint- ment, though here and there it is pleasant enough, and decidedly better written and more alive than the average Natural History book. There are, indeed, one or two charming passages in it, and wild ducks and wild geese stir Mr. Massingham to admirable description :— " The flighting of the Widgeon at dusk is one of those dramas of the desolate marshland which lingers in the memory. It is years since I last heard and saw that press of racing craft hurtling through the slowly dying light, and yet here in this chimney-jungle I can hear and see them now. . . . The flight is almost noiseless . . . but the speed is so great (only the elegant little Teal is swifter on the wing) that the bodies make a soft, high purring through the air, and from hundreds of throats comes that liquid exhilarating whistle—whee-oh, whee-oh—that is the very articulation of wild freedom."
The book would make an admirable present to anyone who lived near the sea.
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