Abstract
READERS of the Field will be familiar with the kind of letters that find their way into the correspondence column of that journal. This column serves as a sorting-house for the unusual incidents and observations which are little known in the animal kingdom and for which we are deeply indebted to so many 'amateur' naturalists. In order that the more significant of these observations should be available in readily accessible form, Mr. Eric Parker has made an exhaustive examination into past issues of the Field over many years, and his collected findings are set out in this book. It will be of most value to those actual or would-be correspondents to the Field whose propensities enable them to interpret the behaviour of animals in terms of human sentiment and emotions. They will read the book with avidity. Naturalists who find the anthropomorphic and teleological assumptions a deflexion from rational objectivity will find much to irritate them. Parker's approach is in direct contrast to that of the writer whose recent book on the life of the robin showed how it is possible to maintain the strictest regard for exact observation and interpretation without in any way concealing one's love for the subject being studied.
Oddities of Natural History
By Eric Parker. Pp. 228 + 8 plates. (London: Seeley, Service and Co., Ltd., 1943.) 12s. 6d. net.
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H., T. [Book Reviews]. Nature 153, 8 (1944). https://doi.org/10.1038/153008c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/153008c0