BOOK NOTICES
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technological progress of the twentieth century in agriculture,
forestry, industry, housing and land planning. A list of all National
Parks, reserves and areas of outstanding natural beauty in Britain
provides an immediate gazetteer to places of interest which one
might visit. A thoughtful analysis of work in progress, the
problems and future aims of the conservancy movement in
Britain completes a very worthwhile book.
The Book of Bird Watching.
By R. M. Lockley. Arthur Baker Ltd. 1969. 127 pages,
21 photographs, 9 text figures. 25/-.
This book describes the art of watching birds, how to begin
and how to continue to the level of expertise that one's inclina-
tions suggest. As a naturalist who has studied birds in many
places, and who has written about them for several levels of
reader, from the layman to the scientist, Mr Lockley's advice is
valuable. He shows how to begin, in town or country, and the
simple equipment that is needed. There are chapters on how to
make useful notes and permanent records, on counting birds, on
their identification by appearance, flight, voice, and habits. The
life of a bird as an individual, its song, the nesting season, terri-
torial behaviour, migration, and navigation are all explored and
explained in simple language and with the enthusiasm that we
expect from the author.
The Hill of Summer.
By J. A. Baker. Collins. 1969. 159 pages. 28/-.
J. A. Baker hit the jackpot with The Peregrine in 1967.
Literary folk acclaimed it (it won the Duff Cooper Memorial Prize),
and it is now translated into many foreign languages. Even bird
people seemed to admire it, perhaps partly because it was con-
cerned with a bird which they did not often see. Now Mr Baker
has written a book which concentrates more on the summer scene
of the English countryside (for The Peregrine was set in winter).
The publishers' blurb describes this new book as descriptive
writing of a high order, imagery of an entirely original perception
and luxuriance. The author is said to write "of a green English
summer, in all weathers and for all wild things: watching birds
high over the Downs, floating down a tree-shaded river in July,
wandering all night through woods and fields, waiting beside a
cornfield at noon, in a beech copse, on an estuary, always looking,
listening and alone". Mr Baker's book is a personal account of his
impressions, in a personal style. Some naturalists will, no doubt,
enjoy it thoroughly, others may well prefer their own recollections
of looking, listening and being alone. The staccato prose, and the
often amazing sequence of happenings in a short period both jar.
Literature it may be, natural history it is not.
Alwyne Wheeler.