Autumns on the Spey

Abstract

WE have seldom come across a book in which the dulce and the utile, science and amusement, are so happily combined as in the modest little volume before us. Mr. Knox's main object, apparently, in spending his autumn on the Spey, was to fish for salmon in that trying river; and some of his wonderful achievements in this exciting occupation are narrated in an almost fascinating, and certainly unpretentious manner, in a few of the chapters of his booklet. But it would be a great mistake to consider this merely a book of sport, and Mr. Knox nothing more than a genial “piscator;” he has already proved what is confirmed by this his most recent work, that his knowledge of British zoology, and especially ornithology, is extensive and thorough. To any one who desires to see the report of a trained and patient observer on the zoology, and even geology, of the basin of the Spey and and of contiguous districts, we would with confidence recommend Mr. Knox's work. It contains much that is valuable and interesting on these subjects, and a good deal that is new to many. Quite charming and very curious is his account of the modus operandi of a family of crossbills (Loxia curvirostris) which he watched while standing under a tree, a few inches above his head, busily engaged at their marvellous employment of splitting the fir cones and extracting the seeds. His observations on the habits of the water-ouzel, its procedure under water, and the food it seeks there, quite redeem that lively little bird from the imputation of being a destroyer of salmon-spawn, and prove him to be the salmon fisher's best friend. But, indeed, the charms of Mr. Knox's book are many, and will be deemed an acquisition by all who take an interest in British zoology; to those who are both fishers and naturalists it will afford a rich treat. The tailpiece to the book is a beautiful woodcut of a salmon, having underneath the punning legend, “In spe vivo.”

Autumns on the Spey.

By A. E. Knox Author of “Ornithological Rambles in Sussex, &c. (London: Van Voorst.)