Birds of a Great Metropolis

Abstract

HERE is a history, assembled from the voluminous but seattered literature and brought up to date, of the birds recorded in the County of London, A map is provided showing the County's limits bat the author frequently strays into Greater london in search of rarer species. The birds are grouped into chapters according to habitats : birds which nest on or frequent buildings, the ground, trees and shrubs, marshes and the Thames, and even the air itself has a chapter ; followed by chapters on migration and predators, including man's influence for evil and good. This treatment has resulted in some overlapping and repetition, but otherwise the book is absorbing, and of great value as a guide for the many Londoners interested in birds.

London' Birds

By R. S. R. Fitter. Pp. 256 + 23 plates. (London: William Collins, Sons and Co., Ltd., 1949.) 10s. 6d. net.