1896. SOME NEW BOOKS. 51 



races than we had before suspected ; these are divided for conveni- 

 ence into sections, subsections, categories, and subcategories. The 

 divisions are, perhaps necessarily, of the pigeon-hole kind, and do 

 not pretend to any particular naturalness ; still they are useful 

 enough in introducing order into what would be, without them, some- 

 what of a chaos. When the author has occasion to use an English 

 expression it is apt to be a little Gallic in form ; thus a well-known 

 engraver and naturalist figures more than once, so it cannot be a 

 misprint, as Becwik. The Polish Swan is inverted as the Swan 

 Polish. These are, however, but trifling blemishes, to which no 

 attention need be paid by any person who requires a work that is 

 comprehensive and liberally illustrated. 



The first of the pamphlets from the United States Department of 

 Agriculture deals with the vexed question of the benefit and injury 

 conferred on agriculturists by birds of prey. Dr. Fisher divides 

 hawks and owls into four classes : (i) Species which are wholly 

 beneficial; (2) Those chiefly beneficial; (3) Those in which the bene- 

 ficial and harmful qualities about balance ; (4) Harmful species. He 

 then gives a brief epitome of the habits and food of certain well- 

 known species, fi-guring Swainson's hawk {Bnteo szminsoni), the red- 

 tailed hawk (Biiteo borealis), the American sparrowhawk [Falco 

 spavveyius), Cooper's hawk [Accipiter cooperi), and three species of owls. 

 The most destructive hawks that the transatlantic farmer has to 

 contend with are the sharp-shinned hawk and Cooper's hawk. It is 

 interesting to learn that these two species have increased during 

 recent winters about the large cities of the Eastern States in con- 

 sequence of the abundance of the introduced sparrows, to which these 

 hawks are partial. 



The two reports on woodpeckers are published together, but the 

 second is the more important of the two, in spite of its brevity. P.- A. 

 Lucas has only four pages to devote to his theme, and considering his 

 difficulty, he has done well to tell us so rhuch. He describes the 

 tongues of about a score of species, and gives illustrations of the 

 tongues of several species in extreme youth, as well as of those of fully 

 mature birds. The facts are extremely suggestive, and deserve the 

 careful consideration of ornithologists. Thus we are informed that in 

 very young woodpeckers the tongue is unarmed at the point, bearing 

 neither hairs nor spines, although the patch of minute points on the 

 upper surface is present from the first. Later on, as indicated by a 

 fully-fledged nestling of the downy woodpecker [Dvyohates piibescens), a 

 species whose tongue is armed in the adult with sharp barbs, the 

 spines are represented by short reflexed hairs. It seems, therefore, 

 that the lateral spines are acquired after the bird has commenced to 

 fly, and that they must be developed very rapidly. Lucas takes 

 leave of us with the significant remark that the evidence which he has 

 been able to bring together favours the view that modifications of the 

 tongue are directly related to the character of the food, and are not of value for 

 classification. F. E. Beal has taken the trouble to examine the stomachs 

 of no fewer than 679 woodpeckers, representing only seven species, 

 all obtained in the Eastern States. It seems a pity that such a number 

 of valuable birds should have been- destroyed even for the purposes of 

 this inquiry, for the results are precisely what any competent authority 

 could safely have prophesied. However, the author deserves all 

 credit for the immense trouble he has taken, and we hope that 

 the results of his researches will diminish the ignorant persecution to 

 which the woodpeckers and many other American birds are unfortu- 

 nately subjected. Of the seven species into whose merits Mr. Beal 



E 2 



