Some Birds of the Countryside: The Art of Nature

Abstract

ALL lovers of open-air Nature, and especially those of birds, will thank Mr. Massingham for putting together in one handy little volume those charming articles of which some have already been published in the Spectator, Contemporary Review, and elsewhere. Throughout the book the reader is by felicitous phrase and by the inborn sympathy of the author with Nature in all her moods transported into the “field”; yes, even when the chapter is entitled “Bird-haunted London.” With singular literary skill Mr. Massingham presents his pictures, whether of landscape or of his favourite birds, so vividly that scene, incident, and character live in the reader's mental vision. No writer of our acquaintance has succeeded better in seeing into and interpreting the behaviour of birds, and that without, undue anthropomorphism. But the reading of character extends beyond a nice and artistic sympathy with feathered life, for the chapters on “Gilbert White and Selborne” and “Charles Waterton” are masterly appreciations of two diametrically different naturalists. In each we end the chapter feeling that we know the man better than ever before, and understand why the fame of one, but not that of the other, has widely endured. If we may be allowed one critical request, it is to entreat Mr. Massingham not to use the word “intrigue” when “interest ” will do just as well—indeed, much better. The latter is English, and the former is, we devoutly trust, a mere passing affectation. The book is, however, a very notable addition to the literature of natural history, and should find a place in every library, large or small.