[[p. 485]] The issue of Parts 35 and 36, completing the third volume, affords us the occasion of again noticing the progress of this beautiful and important work.

    The energy with which the author has laboured to ensure punctuality in the issue is beyond all praise; and now that about half the work is completed, and we find that the last twelve parts, with figures of nearly 120 species of birds, have appeared within the year, subscribers have every assurance that they will, in due course, possess a finished work.

    And this punctuality of issue is not effected by any haste or carelessness of workmanship either in the plates or the letterpress. In the last double number we find some pictures which are triumphs of artistic skill. Such in particular is the figure of the Night-jar (Caprimulgus europæus), in which the downy softness of the plumage, the exquisite mottling of the feathers, the roundness and repose of the whole bird, the half-closed sleepy eye, and the well-contrasted background, are exquisitely rendered. The Wryneck (Yunx torquilla) is almost equally good, and the tail of this bird in particular is rendered with a delicacy and skill which cannot be surpassed. Another charming picture is that of the Smew (Merges albellus), surrounded by half a dozen young, whose various attitudes and the grouping of the whole, with the quiet river scene, are in admirable taste. The two Sand-martins (Cotyle riparia) perched on bending reeds form another beautiful bit of nature. An important feature of this work is the care taken to figure the birds in all their different states of plumage, and more especially that of the young or nestling birds. In this part we have four species in which the young are figured--the Black-winged Kite, the Pied Flycatcher, the Dottrell, and the Smew--and in every case the plumage of these infants is remarkably different from that of their parents. The introduction of these young birds adds greatly to the variety and interest of the plates as mere pictures; but they also have a high scientific value, since they are with good reason believed to indicate what was probably the plumage of the ancestral form of the group to which they belong. From this point of view, the young are really very old birds indeed, and may, when thoroughly studied, enable future ornithologists not only to reconstruct the forms, but also to reproduce the colouring of the birds of past ages. They thus, to some extent, make up for the deficiency of fossil remains of birds; and this work, when completed and the plates arranged in systematic order, will be invaluable to the philosophic naturalist.

    It is difficult to choose an extract which will give any adequate idea of the valuable scientific matter to be found in the letterpress. The following passage (somewhat condensed), taken from the account of the Night-jar, touches on a difficult question which the observations of some of the readers of Nature may help to clear up:--

    This last explanation seems the most probable one; and it agrees with the observation of Gilbert White (of Selborne), who states that he has distinctly seen the Night-jar raise its foot to its mouth while hawking for insects on the wing.

    The passage above quoted is a portion of seven quarto pages devoted to an account of the habits and distribution of the Night-jar. A work like the present, so beautifully and artistically illustrated, and of which only a limited number of copies is printed, is sure to become scarce and to rise considerably in value. Lovers of nature and of art may therefore be reminded, that in becoming subscribers they are not only obtaining a valuable and most interesting book, but are at the same time making a profitable investment.