tion to objects that can be contemplated under circumstances conducive to personal comfort, nor shut himself up in his study when the wintry winds sweep fiercely over the blasted heath." And again:"Let us sally forth into the fields now that the snow has been two days on the ground, and the cold blasts of the north-east wind howl among the leafless twigs." But, alas! how soon did the joyous buoyancy of health disappear before the prospect of approaching death! "As the wounded bird," says he, in the preface written with the fourth volume, "seeks some quiet retreat where, freed from the persecution of the pitiless fowler, it may pass the time of its anguish in forgetfulness of the outer world; so have I, assailed by disease, betaken myself to a sheltered nook, where, unannoyed by the piercing blasts of the North Sea, I had been led to hope that my life might be protracted beyond the most dangerous season of the year.

It is thus that I issue from Devonshire the present volume." And in the concluding words of his last volume, we have the story of his labours thus mournfully brought to a close:—

"Commenced in hope, and carried on with zeal, though ended in sorrow and sickness, I can look upon my work without much regard to the opinions which contemporary writers may form of it, assured that what is useful in it will not be forgotten, and knowing that already it has had a beneficial effect on many of the present, and will more powerfully influence the next generation of our home-ornithologists. I had been led to think that I had occasionally been somewhat rude, or at least blunt, in my criticisms; but I do not perceive wherein I have much erred in that respect, and I feel no inclination to apologise. I have been honest and sincere in my endeavours to promote the truth. With death, apparently not distant, before my eyes, I am pleased to think that I have not countenanced error, through fear of favour. Neither have in any case modified my sentiments so as to endeavour thereby to conceal or palliate my faults. Though I might have accomplished more, I am thankful for having been permitted to add very considerably to the knowledge previously obtained of a very pleasant subject. If I have not very frequently indulged in reflections on the power, wisdom, and goodness of God, as suggested by even my imperfect understanding of his wonderful works, it is not because I have not ever been sensible of the relation between the Creator and his creatures, nor because my chief enjoyment when

wandering among the hills and valleys, exploring the rugged shores of the ocean, or searching the cultivated fields, has not been in a sense of His presence. To Him who alone doeth great wonders,' be all glory and praise. Reader, farewell.”—p. 677.

Farewell to thee, too, thou gifted and single-hearted man; we feel ourselves the better for thy honest pages.

In Mr. Watters's book we have a useful contribution to the natural history literature of Ireland. The cost of it is small, and we heartily recommend it to every one desirous of making the birds of Ireland his study. Few countries possess for the ornithologist more interest than Ireland; there is scarcely a habitat which is not somewhere or another afforded by its richlyvaried physical structure. Vast precipices, exposed to the full brunt of the Atlantic wave and the western storm; smooth tracts of sand, laid bare by the retiring tide; level sweeps of heathery moor, extending like a sea to the very horizon; noble rivers, and estuaries, and lakes; rocky streams, and fernclothed glens, and mighty mountain chains-all, in short, that the feathered hosts can love and long for are there; and yet not all, there is one exception -Ireland is deficient in wood, and a sad deficiency it is. It is true, there are some favoured spots to which this assertion does not apply the exquisite wooding of Killarney and Glengariffe, and certain noble domains scattered through the country, may vie with some of the most richly-wooded districts of England; but, upon the whole, Ireland, when compared with the sister island, is miserably destitute of trees. This we cannot but view as a terrible defect. There is in the climate of Ireland everything to promote the growth of wood; and, with its beautifully-varied and undulating surface, there is, perhaps, no country in the world better fitted to give pictorial effect to this prime clement of the landscape. The paucity of wood in Ireland shows itself in a marked manner upon the fauna; and many of the deficiencies both in birds and mammals may be plainly traced to this source.

Mr. Watters is, perhaps, known to many of our readers as the owner of a most valuable and extensive collection of Irish birds, whose beautifully-preserved skins formed one of the attrac

tive features of the great Irish Exhibition of Industry. His book is a small, unpretending volume, containing a large amount of original observation; while the care its author has taken to make himself acquainted with the labours of others in the same field, has added greatly to its value. Not intended for the determination of the mere names of birds, its pages are not taken up with dry diagnoses and descriptions of plumage, which the reader must seek from other sources, but, under each species, we have a short and pleasantly-written account of its habits and principal Irish haunts, its scientific and English names, and some of its more important synonymes. Many of the facts recorded are interesting, and often quite new to us; take, for instance, the following curious trait in the habits of the short-eared owl (otus brachyotus) :

"A bird at one time in my possession, which had been slightly wounded, employed a curious place for stowing away his provender. On the occasion of a mouse being flung to him, in most cases it was instantly caught by the bill, and held there whilst he was aware of being watched; on the head being averted, the mouse disappeared in an instant between the wing and body, and his orange irides, with the nictitating peculiarities of the owl, appeared almost as if winking at his own success. A second mouse was disposed of under the other wing, whilst a third lay neglected before him until he was left undisturbed to dispose of his hidden spoil."-p. 25.

Our readers are probably accustomed to associate with the winter months nothing but ideas of dreariness and desolation-not only of gardens deprived of flowers, but of woods destitute of song. If they had wandered with the author on some cold day in January, to the haunts of the missel thrush a bird more abundant in Ireland than is generally supposed-they would have arrived at a very different conclusion:

"Exceeding in size our European songbirds, the song of the missel thrush is very beautiful; and although it may not equal the deep mellowness of the blackbird, or the more varied notes of the thrush, yet it is one of the wildest in its character, and, at the same time, softest in its modulation of the various songs for which the entire family is remarkable.

"Well known for the habit of singing im

mediately preceding a storm or high wind, it has obtained, in some parts of the country, the appellation, 'storm cock.' But even beautiful as is the song then, it is far exceeded by the combined melody of a flock, perhaps consisting of eighty or a hundred birds, all singing in harmonious unison, as if murmuring some low, sweet melody, which comes more acceptable to us at a season when snow and frost hold everything confined."-p. 31.

We fully sympathise with Mr. Watters, when he deplores the slight development in Ireland of a taste for natural history-a taste which, if it depended on the natural facilities for its cultivation afforded by the country, should have become one of the national characteristics of the people :

"It must be a matter of regret that, with the exception of an honoured few, the light emanating from natural history has not as yet dawned in Ireland. Many are these neglected opportunities, which are found amid the gray, mist-clad summits of our mountain ranges, where the silence is alone broken by the 'kleeking' of the golden eagle, or the inspiriting challenging of the grouse. Along the towering precipices of the west,-Europe's first barrier against the fury of the Atlantic; tenanted during summer by myriads of sea-fowl, whose confused cries alone equal the frothing of the waves, rushing half way up each cliff; localities where the sea-eagle sails past as if in wonder at our intrusion, and where the raven, topping the pinnacle of the rock, stands stately as if on the mast of some old Norse viking. But we have yet fair plains inland, where the skylark seems untiring in its melody; where far below, at the brook side, the heron wades watchful and silent, his course marked with the air-bubbles floating downwards upon the stream; whilst, on some moss-grown cairn, the cuckoo sways itself, uttering the joyous call that, some few days before, had sounded gleefully under the acacias of a more favoured land. Again, we have great rivers rolling to the sea, whose only argosies are the wild fowl congregated in thousands upon their surface. All are there!the stately and snow-white hooper; the bernacle crowded together in a countless multitude; the long strings of the various ducks calling clamorously in their flight; whil-t, glancing through the uncertain haze, immense flocks of shore birds are momentarily seen ere they as suddenly disappear. Truly Spenser said rightly, 'It is yet a most beautifull and sweete countrey as any under heaven.' ”—Introduction, p. xii.

It is pleasant, however, to see here

and there symptoms of improvement; and we perceive from the title-page that Mr. Watters is himself an associate member of a society, recently established among the students in the University of Dublin, for the express encouragement of zoological studies. From such a society we augur much good; it cannot but excite and extend a taste for natural history pursuits, which, when once properly awakened, must necessarily lead to the cultiva tion of biological science in its highest sense, to the philosophical investiga tion of the laws which preside over the forms, functions, and manifold relations of organised existence.

To the descriptive powers of the author, the little book before us bears abundant testimony; and in his pic