Happy Hunting-Grounds. By W. Hamilton Gilson. (Sampson Low and Co.)—Mr.
Gilson, in this "tribute to the woods and fields," as he calls it, enlarges on the beauties of his native scenery as they seem in diverse seasons'. (It should be said that his "woods and fields" are on the other side of the Atlantic.) His first paper is entitled "A Winter Walk," and is fall, as, indeed, all the papers are, of a close and affectionate observation of Nature. In the second paper he describes a "witch-hazel copse," and has much to say not only on the tree itself, but on the uses attributed to it. For, indeed, the prefix " witch " has much significance in it. It is a wand of this wood that guides the way to springs and treasures. " Aunt Moldy," whom Mr. Gilson describes, was an adept in its employment. " Sap Bewitehed," "Back-Yard Studies" (an interesting example of the botanising that may ho done close at home, a plot of some three hundred feet square captaining sixty-four species), " Singing Wings," " A Grassy Road," and " Wood Notes," are the titles of the other essays. All are richly and beautifully illustrated by the author, whose drawings are presented to us with the delicate skill of American wood-engraving.
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