... Birds in London H.M Stationery Office 9 d.). The official report of the Royal Committee on Bird Sanctuaries provides interest ing information, largely the result of the work of volunteer observers, about bird residents and visitors in the London parks. In addition to the commoner species, there is reference to the buzzard, the Slavonian grebe, the Montagu's harrier, and, most intriguing, the ...

... The English Comic album. by Leonard Russell and Alicolas Bentley (Michael Joseph, Ltd. 15 s.). The book covers a hundred years or so of English comic black- and-white drawings, and is a fascinating collection not only- of widely different styles among the artists, but also of types of humour which are equally far apart. There are Leech drawings of women carrying out men's jobs, prophetically ...

... The British Heritage Odhams 10 s. (id.). An attempt to describe the people, crafts and achievements of this country. Pictori- ally it is admirable there are fine archi tectural and landscape photographs, and the book is specially commended for the interesting colour reproductions of the works of such masters as Cotman, Constable, Gainsborough, Paul Nash, Stanley and Gilbert Spencer, John Crome ...

... The Road Before Me, by Garry Hogg Phoenix House 15 s.). Mr. Hogg here visits the Chalk country the great ridgeway stretching from the South Coast at East bourne, passing through Winchester and swinging back on to the Thames near Goring he describes the Isle of Man and Suffolk. ...

... At Tlie Theatre Oranges and Lemons (Lyric, Hammersmith) Anthony uukinan w THE signal merit of this revue (virtually a second edition of Tuppence Coloured) is that it gives the impression of having been worked over by a single mind and kneaded into an agreeable whole. If there are no brilliancies, it has scarcely anything that can be called a flop, though perhaps the dancing in general ...

... THE bowl of toadstool soup looked, we understand, rather like hot rubber; but Mrs. Fletcher took it with gratitude. Not long afterwards she was the late Mrs. Fletcher, and her sister, the silvery Miss Mabel-- who had compounded the bowl of soup-- sat with an obvious quiet pleasure listening to the reading of the will. It was a curious will, because it left very little to Mabel, but settled ...

... DR. WILLIAM BEEBE is one of that distinguished number who can write about scientific matters to the full comprehension of the layman, and even if from time to time he includes such phrases as I had one advantage over such a platyhelminth, he is not jeering, but simply com paring his status with that of the flatworm. Book of Bays (Bodley Head. 15s.) would be worth studying for the photographs ...

... Come Ride with Me, by Delia Dolphin (Christopher Johnson Pub lishers, Ltd. 15 s.). Another addi tion to the vast library of books on the horse, Mrs. Dolphin's contribu tion makes easy reading. The author deals briefly with the horse in history and legend and goes on to give hints on buying, manage ment, riding and ailments. There are numerous strong line illustra tions by John Board, who also ...

... A Passing: World Morning', Noon and Niglit in London Devil Take the Blue Tail Fly Three Books for the Young: Elizabeth Bewens THE title of our dear Mrs. Belloc Lowndes' last book sounds melancholy, but its contents are not. A Passing World (Macmillan; 15s.) does, it is true, cover the clouded period of World War I., but the effect left on the reader's mind is of equilibrium, good manners, ...

... Sporting Pleasures. Messrs. Truslove and Hanson have pub lished their first post-war catalogue of books which cover all outdoor pursuits. Some of their stock is new, some secondhand. The firm's headquarters are at 14 a, Clifford Street (second door from Bond Street), W.i. ...

... Royal Crusader, by Glenda Spooner (Latimer House Ltd. gs. fid.). The Black Beauty form of horse autobiography is unpopular with many horsemen on the grounds that it inevitably attributes human thoughts and feelings to the animals, and consequently has liberal doses of senti mentality in its pages. Yet such books, from Anna Sewell's work onwards, have their large following, and there is no ...

... Playgoers' Pilgrimage, by A. E. Wilson (Stanley Paul 21 s.). Dame Sybil Thorndike decides that this is the life-story of a dramatic critic, and Mr. Wilson himself set out to write a book of his experiences as journalist and dramatic critic. Memory is a tempting thing, however, and the critic finds himself carried away by nostalgia for a bygone age. The earlier chapters are the richer and ...