Welsh Journals

Household Insect Pests: Norman E. Hicken: The Rentokil Library: £ 3. During the ten years since this book first appeared, the status of a number of insects has changed. Some of those in the early edition are now omitted, while others are said to have increased in importance. The Carpet Beetle (Anthrenus verbasci) has become a serious pest, especially in southern England where it is reported as attacking woollen garments and carpets more readily than in the past. The four colour plates illustrate some of the commonest household insect pests, and there are numerous text figures and photographs, many of which are improved illustrations or additional to those in the first edition. Information on insecticides is brought up to date. At a modest £ 3 this book is highly recommended, and should enable the householder to determine without too much difficulty whether the beetle walking over his kitchen floor is a harmless ground beetle, a garden weevil or the dreaded House Longhorn Beetle (Hylotrupes bajulus). M.J.M. Hedges: H. Pollard, M. D. Cooper and N. W. Moore: Collins: £ 3.50. Hedges, to the naturalist, are linear nature reserves. Their value as habitats and highways, as a pastoral plexus, has never been properly assessed. The authors, scientists at Monks Wood, point to early English references, from Ida's hedge around Bamburgh built in 547 A.D., and also to the earliest commentator of all, Caesar, who said the Nervii, on the French-Belgian border, 'half cut young trees' to obstruct enemy cavalry (a sort of chevaux de frise!). But we know there were hedges, or at least stone walls, on Skomer Island and on St. David's Head over 2,000 years ago. The authors are quick to remind us that hedges are artifacts, maintained by farmers for strictly utilitarian purposes, and a whole section is devoted to their value as shelter for farm stock, and crops (and for motorists!) and to their management, with suggestions for identifying the best hedges for survival. Where the retention of the hedge is against the economic interest of the farmer, he should be compensated for the loss of potential crop land and to cover maintenance. Hedgerow surveys are ideal projects for schools, and instruction in carrying out such projects is given in an appendix, whilst another outlines a hedgerow mapping scheme. The inadequacy of the maps in the book are in themselves testimony of the need for such a scheme. Birds: Christopher Perrins: Collins: £ 1.95. The Collins Countryside Series is to be greeted by beginners of all ages as an introduction to "one of life's most lasting pleasures an understanding of our natural history". They are written by "expert British naturalists, who are also gifted teachers". (The West Wales Naturalists' Trust is proud to note that three of its members are the authors of the first three titles in the series!) Dr. Perrins has for some time been linked with the work of the Edward Grey Institute at Skokholm Bird Observatory, following the late David Lack. He is a leading British ornithologist, and his book is a masterly survey of bird life in these islands. It is about bird ecology the study of how birds survive in their environment, and is of value to the experienced birdwatcher no less than the dabb!ing amateur. There are fine Bewickesque drawings by Robert Gillmor.