A Year with the Birds. By W. Warde Fowler. Third
edition, enlarged. (Macmillan and Co.)—It is unnecessary to say much in favour of this delightful book, which was reviewed in our columns on its first appearance about three years ago. Mr. Fowler is an Oxford tutor, and observes that Oxford is almost a paradise of birds. "I fancy," he writes, "there is hardly a town in Europe of equal size where such favourable conditions are offered them, unless it be one of the old-fashioned, well-timbered kind, such as Wies- baden, Bath, or Dresden." The smaller birds are far less numerous on the Continent than in this country, and the English naturalist has no happier field of observation than his native land. Mr. Fowler, who writes from practical acquaintance with the subject, considers that to direct the attention of children to natural objects is one of the most valuable processes of education, and that if an interest of this kind is not early cultivated, it is unlikely to be gained at Public Schools, where the " system of compulsory game- playing will effectually prevent any attempt at patient observa- tion." It may be almost said of the naturalist that, like the poet, he is born, not made ; but an interest in natural objects, if once excited, will grow by what it feeds on, and an undergraduate with this book in his hand may find that Oxford has attractions of which " fast " men and " working " men are alike ignorant. The writer tells him at what season to visit many a familiar spot in the neighbourhood of the city, and what birds he will find there. When the University year is over, Mr. Fowler pursues his observa- tions in Switzerland, and on returning to England, carries the reader with him to a Midland village, and to a spot where " we have within a radius of five or six miles almost every kind of country in which birds rejoice to live." Mr. Fowler's happy hunting fields, whether abroad or at home, are so described that the bird-lover who takes this volume as a guide may follow in his steps without difficulty. The book is one for all seasons, and, we would fain hope, for all readers. Mr. Bryan Hook's illustrations, twenty-one in number, add much to its attractiveness.
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