The Birds of Ireland; an Account of the Distribution, Migration and Habits of Birds as Observed in Ireland, with all Additions to the Irish List. The Story of the Birds. Among the Birds

Abstract

IN a few months half a century will have elapsed since the publication of the third and concluding volume of Thompson's “Birds of Ireland,” and, with the exception of a smaller volume written on more popular lines, and the valuable “List of Irish Birds” (two editions of which have appeared), by the late Mr. A. G. More, of Dublin, no other complete treatise on the same subject has hitherto been issued. With the great advances in our information on this special subject, and the improvements in our method of treating natural history in general, to say nothing of the changes which have occurred in the Irish avifauna itself during that long interval, it will be evident that there is abundant room for an authentic and standard work of the nature of the one before us. And no one could have been found better fitted to undertake this important and laborious task than Mr. R. J. Ussher, who has written the bulk of the present volume, and who has devoted the greater part of his life to the study of the history and habits of his well-beloved Irish birds. As regards the contributions of Mr. R. Warren, whose name appears on the title-page as joint-author, we are told in the preface that the portions of the work actually from his own pen are restricted to the accounts of half-a-dozen species. Mr. Ussher is, however, careful to acknowledge his indebtedness to his friend and coadjutor for a number of observations on the habits and distribution of birds. And he likewise de clares his obligations to the late Mr. More, and also to Mr. R. M. Barrington, who has contributed much information with regard to bird-migration, drawn from the observations taken at the lighthouse stations.

The Birds of Ireland; an Account of the Distribution, Migration and Habits of Birds as Observed in Ireland, with all Additions to the Irish List.

By R. J. Ussher R. Warren. Pp. xxxii + 419. Illustrated. (London: Gurney and Jackson, 1900.)

The Story of the Birds.

By C. Dixon. Pp. xiv + 304. (London: George Allen, 1900.)

Among the Birds.

By Florence Anna Fulcher. Pp. iii + 253. (London: S.P.C.K, 1900.)