Manual of British Birds, By Howard Saunders. Third edition revised and enlarged by William Eagle Clarice, I.S.O., I X . D . (Gurney and Jackson). 30s. net. F O R years Howard Saunders's Manual was the standard authority for British ornithology until his last (1899) edition became too out of date to be so regarded. The present edition we fear falls short in the accuracy sustained in Saunders's own two editions. Even on the first page of the Preface the name of Mr. Gronvold, the well-known bird artist, is spelt Gronwold, and a number of other mistakes, to some of which we refer later, occur throughout the book. The form of the work is the same as previous editions, b u t the plan of devoting to each species exactly two pages (which Saunders himself never approved) is rightly abandoned. The descriptions of young birds are fuller than in previous editions and the measurement of wings is given in millimetres as well as inches. Many additions have been made and newly-admitted species have been illustrated by Mr. Gronvold, whose drawings are cleverly done to match the style of the old ones, notwithstanding the fact t h a t they are reproduced by a different process. In some of the drawings insufficient care has been used to make them comparative in size, so that, for instance, Baird's Sandpiper and the Semi-palmated Sandpiper appear relatively gigantic. In nomenclature, Dr. Clarke has followed the B.O.U. List of 1915 " with a few desirable
Volume: 
Issue 2

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