G. NATURAL HISTORY AND ZOOLOGY. 343 



live influence upon the existence and multiplication of in- 

 sects that are injurious to vegetation, in view of the fact that 

 its large size and semi-domestic habits especially qualify it 

 for attacking such pests and destroying them on a large scale, 

 feeding as it does almost exclusively upon insects and their 

 larvae ; and as in consequence of its slight degree of shyness 

 it will enter the gardens and orchards freely, and breed in 

 colonies in the trees near country houses. 



DR. COUES' MANUAL OF FIELD ORNITHOLOGY. 



A " Manual of Field Ornithology," prepared by Dr. Elliott 

 Cones, and published by the American Naturalist Agency of 

 Salem, gives the result of Dr. Coues' experience as a collect- 

 or in various regions of North America, from Labrador to 

 California, and from Southern Arizona to the Lake of the 

 Woods ; and, as the production of an accomplished ornithol- 

 ogist and naturalist, and an extremely successful and skilled 

 field explorer, can not fail to be of great service both to the 

 beginner and the advanced student. 



Not the least valuable feature of the volume consists in a 

 new check list of North American birds, giving the result 

 of the latest inquiries on the part of Dr. Coues and other or- 

 nithologists. The list published by the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution, which has been in very extensive use for many years 

 past, brings the subject down only to 1859, and in view of 

 the additions and corrections of synonymy which have taken 

 place since that time, there has been an urgent need of a 

 new one, which has been satisfactorily met by Dr. Coues. 



CATALOGUE OF AMERICAN BIRDS. 



A catalogue of the birds of America south of the United 

 States has lately been completed by Messrs. Sclater & Sal- 

 vin, under the title of "Index Avium Neotropicalium," and 

 embraces a total of 3565 species. The species peculiar to 

 North America north of Mexico, and thus omitted by the au- 

 thors, if added to the number given, would bring the whole 

 up to 4000 species of birds belonging to the New World. 



At the end of the list, the authors give descriptions of 

 thirty-one species included therein previously undescribed, 

 and the work itself is simply the forerunner of a much more 

 extensive memoir, which is to embrace full descriptions of 



