Welsh Journals

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birds (126) in all that are to be found on the Welsh coast, a list which however serves little purpose and would have been more useful had a distinction been drawn between rare species and common. For, using it as it is, the beginner might be forgiven if he assumed from it that hooded crows, Iceland falcons, ibises and Temminck's stints were as likely to be met on the Welsh coast as are herring gulls. However, these are but minor blemishes on a beautifully produced, well written book which should do a great deal of good in a country where an intelligent interest in birds, though beginning to increase, is still very lacking among children and adults alike. W.M.C. Mountain FLOWERS. JOHN RAVEN and MAX WALTERS. London Collins (" New Naturalist series). 1956. 25s. If you are interested in the alpine flora of these islands (and what naturalist is not ?), you should read this book. The authors have dealt with their subject satisfactorily and in a readable style, and the book is of the high standard one has come to expect in this series. Many people will be thankful that it contains only brief references to cytology, which is often too difficult for the amateur who has not had a university training in the subject. It should, however, be added that this is not just another wild-flower book the fact that the authors are both well-known and competent botanists should make this clear. The book is divided into two parts. The first consists of general information about the famous pioneers of mountain botanizing, about geology and ecology, the life-forms and distribution types of the plants, and the origin of the mountain flora. In the second part, the floras of the various mountain areas of the British Isles are described, in a manner reminding one of Lonsley's Wild Flowers of Chalk and Limestone in the same series. There is much up-to-date information about the famous localities and about lesser-known ones this includes full accounts, which it is useful to have in a single volume, of the various discoveries and rediscoveries made in Scotland in recent years. One might regret that N. Wales is disposed of in so few pages. But, as the authors mention, all the Welsh alpines, except the famous Lloydia and a few microspecies, grow in Scotland also, and usually in much greater abundance. Finally there are, as appendices, keys for the identifications of the mountain species of Alchemilla, Salix and Hieracium, and sixteen distribution maps based on the 10 km. National Grid of the Ord- nance Survey. These maps are no doubt similar to the ones being produced for all British vascular plants by the Botanical Society and are much more valuable than existing vice-county data. It is unfortunate that the colour plates are not of such a high standard as the text the colours of many of the plants are not very accurately reproduced, as so often happens in this series. For