Welsh Journals

called Pen Dinas. There are trivial mistakes arising from bad spelling and poor proof reading and the author is inclined to neglect the southern half of Wales, e.g. no reference to St. David's Head as a Pre-Cambrian site. The descriptive list of animal collections ranges from the Welsh Mountain Zoo to the Tropicana Aquarium at Rhyl. The photographs, throughout the book, are beautifully produced. Birds of Caernarvonshire: Peter Hope Jones and Peter Dare: Cambrian Ornithological Society. Any and every effort to publish a county list deserves every encouragement. It is surprising that Caernarfon, with the resources of Bardsey, Bangor University and the Cambrian Ornithologicals, had not done so earlier. This one has 276 species of which 112 are breeding: many of the records are from Bardsey, and some are of the last century Honey Buzzard at Dolweddelan 1882, or even earlier Golden Eagle in Snowdonia up to 1700. The authors have wisely refrained from quoting references for all records and have deposited these with the BTO and the National Museum of Wales for those who wish to consult them. Copies of the book are to be had from R. H. Fisher, 28 Diserth Road, Colwyn Bay, Clwyd, for £ 1.63 (including postage). The Penguin Book of the Natural World: Penguin Books: £ 1.95. Young people today have many advantages, and this book is another. It provides knowledge and information on the history of living things, from the minutest molecule to the blue whale, by quick reference on 160 double-page spreads illustrated with hundreds of colour photographs and diagrams. It can be used as a text-book, straight forward and colourful, or as a book of reference; it makes learning a real pleasure. The Penguin Book of the Physical World lays before us, in equally attractive form, the mysteries of man's advance from the stone axe to the latest miracle of science, and is a companion volume to the above in a real sense: the cover designs are indicative the former has a dragonfly, the latter a helicopter. Wildlife Begins at Home: Tony Soper: David and Charles: £ 3.25. Those who do not already have an excuse for not digging the garden will find encouragement in such phrases as 'a badly-kept garden may be as exciting as a tropical jungle!' and 'to try to keep a patch in a state of arrested development is to enslave yourself to tyranny'. The author of the world best- seller The New Bird Table Book admits that on 'your own patch you must regard yourself as the dominant animal' but almost hints that you should give priority to sparrows and toads and nettles, black ants and fairy rings. 'For every untidy disgrace there is an animal giving grateful thanks'. The illustrations are by Robert Gillmor and are up to his usual high standard. Country Bazaar: Andy Pittaway and Bernard Scofield: Fontana/Collins: £ 2.95. This book is based on the magazine Country Bizarre, 'a peculiar patchwork of country matters ranging from conservation, folklore and craftwork, to nature, poetry, stories and pictures'. It reveals the arts of corn- dolly making, silkworm rearing, spinning, smocking, making yoghurt and quark cheese, producing oak leaf wine or carrot whisky, or a wine flavoured with alkanet or cardamon or meadow sweet. Intriguingly illustrated. A piece of rustic revelry.