Abstract
THE latest addition to Messrs. Witherby's well got-up series of volumes on the life-histories of British birds, four of which, dealing with the golden eagle, the osprey, the spoonbill, the stork, and some herons, have already been issued, is quite equal to its predecessors as a contribution to ornithology. The four species of terns (1) are its subject-matter; and the author, Mr Bickerton, is to be congratulated for the excellence of his photographs showing the eggs, the young and adult birds, and the nesting-sites, as well as for the time and labour devoted to securing them, and to compiling the voluminous notes embodied in the text. To the ordinary reader the text is naturally somewhat tedious on account of its prolixity and repetitions, unavoidably due to the similarity in mode of life of the species described; and the value of the volume would have been increased by the addition of a short chapter summarising the results, and pointing out briefly the differences in habit between: the several species. This is the only criticism, however, we have to offer of an admirable and painstaking piece of work; and we trust Mr. Bickerton will be able to find the leisure to observe and record the habits; of other groups of British birds in a similar way.
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References
(1) The Home-life of the Terns or Sea Swallows. Photographed and Described by W. Bickerton . Pp. 88 + xxxii mounted plates. (London: Witherbv and Co., 1912) Price 6s. net.
(2) The Charm of the Hills. By S. Gordon . Pp. xiv + 248. (London: Cassell and Co., Ltd., 1912.) Price 10s. 6d. net.
(3) The Flowing Road. Adventuring on the Great Rivers of South. America, By C. Whitney . Pp. 319. (London: W. Heinemann, 1912.) Price 12s. 6d. net.
(4) Wild Life and the Camera. By A. R. Dugmore . Pp. xi + 332. (London: W. Heinemann, 1912.) Price 6s. net.
(5) The Feet of the Furtive. By C. G. D. Roberts . Pp. 277. (London: Ward, Lock, and Co., Ltd., 1912.) Price 6s.
(6) Insect Workers. By W. J. Claxton . Pp. xii + 62. (London: Cassell and Co., Ltd., 1912.) Price 1s. net.
(7) Letters from Nature's Workshop. By W. J. Claxton . Pp. 192. (London: G. G. Harrap and Co., 1912.) Price 1s. 6d. net.
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P., R. Natural History and Travel 1 . Nature 92, 294–295 (1913). https://doi.org/10.1038/092294a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/092294a0