Book News and Reviews 



27 



of the District of Columbia, in the belief 

 that a local work giving untechnical 

 descriptions of all birds likely to be seen 

 in this vicinity, with something of the 

 haunts and habits of those that nest here, 

 will be useful to many who desire, an 

 acquaintance with our own birds, but do 

 not know just how to go about making it. " 



The book seems admirably adapted to 

 achieve this end. The opening pages by 

 Miss Merriam are a capital introduction 

 to the study of birds in the District of 

 Columbia. They are followed by ' A 

 P'ield Key to Our Common Land Birds,' 

 and attractively written biographical 

 sketches of the breeding species. The 

 migrants and winter residents are treated 

 more briefl}-, and an annotated ' List of 

 All Birds Found in the District of Colum- 

 bia, ' by Dr. C. W. Richmond, is given. 

 There ar6 also nominal lists of winter 

 birds, birds that nest within the city 

 limits, etc., and an 'Observation Out- 

 line,' abridged from Miss Merriam's 

 ' Birds of Village and Field. ' 



The book is, in fact, a complete man- 

 ual of ornithology for the District of 

 Columbia, and will undoubtedly prove an 

 efficient guide to the study of the birds 

 of that region. 



Bird-Life : A Guide to the Study of 

 Our Common Birds. Teachers' Edi- 

 tion. By Frank M. Chapman. With 

 75 full-page plates and numerous text- 

 drawings by Ernest Seton Thompson. 

 D. Appleton & Co. New York. i8gg. 

 i2mo, pages xiv -\- 269 -{- Appendix, 

 pages 87. 



This is the original edition of ' Bird- 

 Life,' with an Appendix designed to 

 adapt the work for use in schools. The 

 new matter consists of questions on the 

 introductory chapters of 'Bird-Life,' as, 

 for instance, 'The Bird, its Place in 

 Nature and Relation to Man,' 'Form 

 and Habit,' 'Color,' 'Migration,' etc.; 

 and, under the head of ' Seasonal Les- 

 sons, ' a review of the bird -life of a 

 year based on observations made in the 

 vicinity of New York City. This includes 

 a statement of the chief characteristics 

 of each month, followed by a list of the 



birds to be found during the month, and, 

 for the spring and early summer months, 

 a list of birds to be found nesting. 



For the use of teachers and students 

 residing in other parts of the eastern 

 United States there are annotated lists 

 of birds from Washington, D. C. , by Dr. 

 C. W. Richmond; Philadelphia, Pa., by 

 Witmer Stone ; Portland, Conn., by J. H. 

 Sage ; Cambridge, Mass., by William 

 Brewster ; St. Louis, Mo. , by Otto 

 Widmann ; Oberlin, Ohio, by Lynds 

 Jones, and Milwaukee, Wis., by H. 

 Nehrling. 



The Appletons have also issued this 

 book in the form of a 'Teachers' Man- 

 ual,' which contains the same text as the 

 'Teachers' Edition,' but lacks the sev- 

 enty-five uncolored plates. 



This 'Teachers' Manual' is intended to 

 accompany three ' Teachers' Portfolios of 

 Plates, ' containing in all one hundred 

 plates, of which ninety-one, including the 

 seventy-five plates published in ' Bird- 

 Life, ' are colored, while nine are half- 

 tone reproductions of birds' nests photo- 

 graphed in nature. The one hundred 

 plates are about equally divided in port- 

 folios under the titles of ' Permanent 

 Residents and Winter Visitants, ' ' March 

 and April Migrants, ' and ' May Migrants 

 and Types of Nests and Eggs. ' 



Audubon Bird Chart 



A most practical step in Audubon edu- 

 cational work is the publication, by the 

 Massachusetts Audubon Society, of a 

 chart giving life-size, colored illustrations 

 of twenty-six of our common birds. On 

 the whole, both in drawing and coloring, 

 these birds are excellent, and while a 

 severe critic might take exception to 

 some minor inaccuracies, the chart may 

 be commended as the best thing of the 

 kind which has come to our attention. 

 It is accompanied by a pamphlet con- 

 taining well written biographies, by Mr. 

 Ralph Hoffmann, of the species figured. 

 The chart is published by the Prang 

 Educational Company, of Boston, from 

 whom, with Mr. Hoffmann's booklet, it 

 may be purchased for one dollar. 



