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Bird - Lore 



The Home-Life of a Golden Eagle. 

 Photographed and described by H. B. 

 Macpherson. Wiiherby & Co., 326 

 High Holborn, London. 1909. 8vo., 45 

 pages, 32 mounted half-tones. Price 5 

 shillings. 



This is an ideal demonstration of the 

 possibilities of modern methods of bird 

 study with a camera, in which, prompted 

 primarily by the desire to get pictures, the 

 author built a blind of rocks, turf and 

 heather near a Golden Eagle's eyrie, and 

 from this shelter studied and photographed 

 the birds during the eleven weeks their off- 

 spring was in the nest. More than a thou- 

 sand miles were traveled in going to and 

 from the nest, and often the bitter cold and 

 driving storms which prevailed in the 

 Grampian mountains (where, at an alti- 

 tude of nearly 3,000 feet, the birds had 

 made their home), during the season in 

 question, would have dismayed almost any 

 one but a genuine bird photographer. 



We cannot present here even a resume 

 of the interesting facts discovered and 

 recorded by Mr. Macpherson, but we un- 

 reservedly commend his essay as one of 

 the most fascinating chapters in bird-life 

 with which we are familiar, and quite 

 worthy of comparison with Mr. Finley's 

 study of the California Condor. — F. M. C. 



Fauna of New England II. List of the 

 Aves. By Glover M. Allen. Occa- 

 sional Papers of the Boston Society of 

 Natural History, June, 1909. 8vo., 230 

 pages. 



Thanks to the admirable method of pre- 

 sentation devised by Dr. Allen, we have 

 here not only an annotated list of the birds 

 of New England but also annotated lists 

 of the birds of each of the New England 

 states, .\fter a tabular check-list of New 

 England birds, in which the presence or 

 absence of each species in each state, as 

 well as in the collection of the Boston So- 

 ciety of Natural History, is indicated. 



the 402 species admitted to the New Eng- 

 land list are treated formally, under each 

 being given (i) the A. O. U. scientific name 

 (2) the A. O. U. common name followed 

 by other vernacular names used in New 

 England, (3) reference to the original 

 place of description with the type locality, 

 (4) reference to a colored figure of the bird 

 and its egg, when e.xisting, (5) character 

 of haunts, (6) state headings with status, 

 manner of occurrence, dates of migration 

 and egg-laying of migrant and breeding 

 species. In conclusion, there is a list of 

 'Species Introduced or Erroneously Ac- 

 credited.' 



In view of the surprisingly large amount 

 of information which Dr. .\llen has suc- 

 ceeded in crowding into a limited space, 

 it may seem ungracious to ask for more; but 

 since the plan adopted evidently omits 

 references to the sources whence his local 

 data were obtained, would it not have 

 been well to give, in a bibliographical ap- 

 pendix, titles of at least the lists of birds 

 relating to the states contained in the region 

 in question? — F. M. C. 



The Purple Martin and Houses for 

 Its Summer Home. By J. Warren 

 Jacobs. Gleanings No. 5, pages 1-45; 

 First Supplement, pages 46-56. Numer- 

 ous illustrations. Waynesburg, Pa 



Mr. Jacobs may claim to be our leading 

 authority on the ways and wants of the 

 Purple Martin. His 'Story of a Martin 

 Colony' (Gleanings No. 2) was an admi- 

 rable contribution to the life history of that 

 bird, and he here treats at length of a more 

 practical side of the subject, namely, the 

 construction of Martin houses and estab- 

 lishing of Martin colonies. Various cor- 

 respondents contribute their experiences 

 in inviting Martins to occupy houses built 

 bv Mr. Jacobs, and both pamphlets con- 

 tain much of value and interest to those 

 who would bring these delightful birds 

 about their homes — F. M. C. 



