142 



TF-JE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



other times that he is scientist ? But I 

 am diverging. The studies are for the 

 lovers of birds who have a sincere desire 

 for better acquaintance with bird lives, 

 loves and enjoyments. 



Even the til" 1 ^ of contents is inviting. 

 It invites to consideration, not of classi- 

 fication, where to hunt for birds, etc., but 

 of individuality, intelligence, language, 

 education, affections, courtship, amuse- 

 ments, odd ways, etc. The book has an 

 idea, and in many respects a new one. 

 It is well worked out and presented by 

 the talented author. 



no attempt made at popularization, not 

 an instance of "dropping into poetry" 

 or telling a funny tale of folk lore, as 

 with many "popular'' manuals, yet this 

 book goes so directly to the work it pro- 

 claims itself to do that it should. have lib- 

 eral circulation for popular use. The lan- 

 guage is only reasonably botanical, not 

 occult, and is to be readily understood 

 by any person of fair intelligence. There 

 is an excellent glossary of the special 

 terms. 



Gray Lady and the Birds. Stories of 

 the bird year for home and the 

 school. By Mabel Osgood Wright. 

 New York : The Macmillan Com- 

 pany. 



I must confess that since I first saw a 

 copy of this book it has been a puzzle. 

 I often find myself wondering whether 

 the study of birds requires such an at- 

 tempt at coating and whether this kind of 

 coating is really "sugar." Do our grown 

 up friends who want to interest young 

 people in the study of birds require such 

 a round about aid ? It must be that there 

 is a public demand, for the publishers are 

 shrewd and the writer is talented. On 

 these two points only is there convincing 

 of necessity.. 



The author is an interesting story- 

 writer, and a proficient, enthusiastic stu- 

 dent of birds. I wish she had made two 

 books : one, "The Grav Lad\" ; the other, 

 "The Birds." 



Daffodils-Narcissus and How to 

 Grow Them. By A. M. Kirby. 

 New York City : Doubieday, Page & 

 Company. 



This volume tells all that is really 

 worth while about daffodils — where, 

 what, and how to grow them, and it is 

 also full of suggestions for those who 

 want to do something better than the 

 ordinary in their gardens. These most 

 charming and earliest of the larger flow- 

 ered spring bulbs — the Lenten lilies, 

 which "take the winds of March with 

 beauty" — are gaining rapidly in popular 

 estimation. Whether for cut flowers, 

 for pots or o-ardens, or f or naturalizing 

 in the meadows, the daffodils are un- 

 equalled in beauty. The author has had 

 a life experience with bulbs of all kinds, 

 and grown what is orobablv the most 

 comolete collection of daffodils in Amer- 

 ica, and has made a hobby of studying 

 them. The first book of its kind dealing* 

 with American conditions. 



North American Trees. Descriptions 

 and illustrations of the trees grow- 

 ing independently of cultivation in 

 North America and the West Indies. 

 By Nathaniel Lord Britton, Ph. D., 

 Sc. D., Director-in-Chief of the 

 New York Botanical Garden. With 

 the assistance of John Adolph Sha- 

 fer, Pharm. D. Custodian of the 

 Museums of the New York Botani- 

 cal Garden. New York: Henry 

 Holt and Company. Pages 894. 

 This is a sumptuous and solid appear- 

 ing volume, of careful description of the 

 trees within the scope of the title. The 

 key is convenient. The descriptions are 

 condensed and scientific. While there is 



The Life of Animals. The Mammals. 

 By Ernest Ingersoll. New York : 

 The Macmillan Company. 



This book tells of the mode of life, 

 history and relationship of mammals. 

 The first chapter is "'Man and the Apes." 

 The last is "Duckbill and Echidnas." 

 Thus it is readily seen that a wide range 

 of mammalian life is represented. There 

 is an equally wide range in styles of il- 

 lustrations, everything known, and from 

 a great variety of sources. As the work 

 is mostly a compilation, it necessarily 

 flavors of the perfunctor-- and does not 

 show the author at his best, as he is in 

 "Wild Neighbors." There is, however, 

 the merit of care, faithful work and de- 

 sire for absolute accuracy on the part of 



