Book News and Reviews 



55 



of this i-miiK-nlly (iri<:inal luid i)ri)l()un(l 

 conlribulion lo cur knowli-dj^c of ihe 

 subject; and, whclluT or not Thayer's 

 theories rcphue all those which have been 

 long current, his discoveries have already 

 revolutionized our views of what ((in- 

 stitutes concealing coloration in the 

 animal kingdom. -F. M . C 



Our Skakcii for a Wii.dkkness; an 

 AccoiNT OF Two Ornithological 

 Expeditions to X'enezuela and to 

 British Gliana. By Mary Blair 

 Hekbe and C. William Beebe. Henry 

 Holt & Co. New York. iqio. 8vo., xi.\ 

 +408 pages, 157 half-tones, ,? line cuts. 



Mr. and Mrs. Beebe are to be con- 

 gratulated on their success in sharing 

 their delight in the life of a tropical wilder- 

 ness with their readers; and, where one's 

 enthusiasm is kept constantly at the 

 boiling point, it is no small satisfaction 

 to feel that you have conveyed some of 

 your pleasure to an appreciative audience. 



But the authors of this volume have 

 done more than this, for their studies of 

 tropical life have added not a little to our 

 knowledge of the habits of many of the 

 animals, chiefly birds, which they en- 

 countered. The more technical results 

 of their two trips have appeared in the 

 publications of the New York Zoological 

 Society, where also their collections were 

 deposited, and we have here the narrative 

 of their adventures, told in a manner to 

 fire the ardor of the young naturalist, 

 keen to experience the marvels of the 

 tropics, as well as to arouse the interest 

 of those who, less venturesome, would 

 gain their knowledge of tropical life at 

 second hand. 



The book abounds in half-tones from 

 photographs, which illustrate the country 

 traversed and many of its inhabitants. — 

 F. M. C. 



.V Labrador Spring. Bv Charles \V. 

 Townsend, M.D. Dana, Estes & Co. 

 i2mo. .\i f 262 pages, 55 half-tones. 



This is the pleasantly written account 

 of a five-W'ceks' trip to southern Labrador, 

 in May and June, 1909. .\lthough the 

 studv of bird life was Dr. Townsend's 



( hief ol)ject, the human life of the region 

 came in for no small part of his attention. 

 Of especial interest are his observations 

 on the development of a Labrador spring, 

 and the chapter on "The Courtships of 

 Some Labrador Birds." He remarks on 

 the conspicuousness of the male lOider, 

 from whatever viewpoint it be seen, and 

 the fad that this bird assumes the plu- 

 mage, in part, of the female during the 

 ilightless period of its molt, might be 

 interpreted as an admission on the part 

 of nature that the full male attire is con- 

 spicuous. 



In commenting on modern methods of 

 bird study. Dr. Townsend writes: "Nowa- 

 days, there is no excuse for the beginner 

 to use a gun, and there is no need of 

 multiplying collections of bird-skins, but 

 it should be impressed on all bird-students 

 — and their name is legion, both masculine 

 and feminine — that it is far better to be 

 silent or confess ignorance than to affirm 

 knowledge, unless that knowledge is 

 based on sound obser\ation."' — V. ^L C. 



Catalogue of Canadian Birds. By 

 John Macoun, Naturalist to the Geo- 

 logical Survey, Canada, and James M. 

 Macoun, Assistant Naturalist to the 

 Geological Survey, Canada, Ottawa; 

 Government Printing Bureau. 1909. 

 Svo., pages viii-l-761+xviii. 



Treating of a part of North America 

 in which many birds find the northern 

 limit of their range, the first edition of this 

 'Catalogue' proved in practice to be a 

 fauna! work of exceptional value. We can, 

 therefore, welcome in no uncertain way 

 this revised edition of it, which we are 

 glad to find appears in one volume instead 

 of three. 



In this revised and enlarged edition, 

 that veteran Canadian naturalist, John 

 Macoun, has associated with him as joint 

 author, his son, and not a small portion of 

 the original data here presented is based 

 on the combined field work of these two 

 naturalists. Here too, are included the 

 notes of William Spreadborough, who, as 

 a field agent and collector, has been in 

 the employ of the Survey since 1889. In 

 addition, therefore, to eight abstracts of 



