Book News and Reviews 



41 



■will titi(l casli'rn rradors jii^^l as nun h 

 inlc-n-sti'd in his attrartixo shirics of 

 Woslcrn l)ir<l-lit\' if hv calls his suhjcds 

 by their rif^'hl nanu's. — F. M, C. 



The Development of Nestling Feath- 

 ers. Bv Lynds Jones. Laboratory 

 Bulletin 'No. 13, Oherlin College, Oher- 

 lin, Ohio, 1907. Svo. 18 pages, \'11I 

 plates. 



Professor Jones slates that the studies 

 on whiih this |)a])er is based were made 

 for the ])iirpose of gi\-ing "a more com- 

 plete account of the development of the 

 down, or neossoptile, than has been given 

 by previous writers, and to show the true 

 relation of this structure to the first 

 •definitive feathers." 



After e.xplaining the methods employed 

 in the jireparation of material, the develop- 

 ment of the feather germ and of the barbs 

 and barbules is described, and the relation 

 ■of the down to the first definitive feather 

 is discussed, the conclusion being reached 

 that "the first down and its succeeding 

 definitive feather are produced by one con- 

 tinuous growth, and therefore cannot be 

 regarded as two distinct feathers." 



Professor Jones' paper is an important 

 contribution to the histology of feather 

 growth and we trust he will follow it 

 with one on the ta.xonomic value of the 

 characters shown by the neossoptile. — 

 F. M. C. 



Gr.^y L.ady .and the Birds; Stories of 

 THE Bird Ye.ar for Home .and School. 

 By Mabel Osgood Wright. New York. 

 The Macmillan Co., 1907. i2mo. xx -|- 

 437 pages; 48 full-page plates, 12 colored. 

 Mrs. Wright has succeeded in weaving 



into the narrative of a story well designed 

 to hold the attention of juvenile readers a 

 surprising amount of information in 

 regard to birds, much of which, it may be 

 added, is not to be found in the popular 

 bird books. The following chajjter or 

 subject headings will give an indication 

 of the book's contents: The bird — what 

 is it?; Migrations; Molting; What the 

 birds do for us and what we should do for 

 them; Bird protection; Housing; Feeding; 

 Feathers and Hats; The Procession Passes; 



'llu' Flight of theBirds; Hawks and Owls; 

 Tree-Trunk Birds; Game Birds; Winter 

 Birds; Spring Birds; May Birds. 



In the arrangement of matter and the 

 method of treatment the author has had 

 the needs of teachers in mind; indeed it 

 was the success of a pamphlet written 

 for distribution by the Connecticut .Au- 

 dubon Society to the teachers of Con- 

 necticut that induced Mr>. Wright to 

 [jrepare this volume. 



Most of the illustrations, including 

 the twelve colored ones, have appeared 

 in the l^duc ational Leaflets of the National 

 Association of .Audubon Societies; some 

 are from 'Citizen Bird;' others are from 

 Bird-Lore and four of the most inter- 

 esting are by Dr. C. F. Hodge. 



Mrs. Wright also acknowledges her 

 indebtedness to various writers for r|uo- 

 tations from their works, while the Grav 

 Lady herself presents the subject of bird 

 study in so attractive a way that she will 

 be sure to win the attention and interest 

 of many children who might be repellerj 

 by exactly the same matter less skilfully 

 handled.— 7. M. C. 



Birds .as Conserv.ators of the Forest. 

 By F. E. L. Be.al. Rep. N. Y. Forest, 

 Fish and Game Commission. 1902-3; 

 pp. 236-274; 14 full-page colored plates. 



Mr. Beal quotes Dr. .A. D. Hopkins, 

 who is in charge of Poorest Insect Investi- 

 gations in the Bureau of Entomology of 

 the United States Department of -Agri- 

 culture, to the effect that the ''annual loss 

 from insect work on forest trees, and their 

 crude and finished products, amounts to 

 at least one hundred million dollars." 

 As a complementary statement, Mr. 

 Beal adds "One very important means 

 which Nature has provided for the 

 restriction of these pests within reasonable 

 bounds is found in the insect-eating birds, 

 many species of which spend most of their 

 lives upon trees, and subsist upon the 

 insects found thereon." The memoir is 

 devoted to the birds of this class, the 

 food habits and economic value of Wood- 

 peckers, Titmice, Nuthatches, the Brown 

 Creeper, the Warblers, Kinglets, Cuckoos 

 and Vireos being discussed at length. 



