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Bird -Lore 



eggs, that injure the trees and baffle the 

 efforts of man for their extermination. 



In both papers we are shown the un- 

 poetical but useful side of bird-life. These 

 two confiding little birds have endeared 

 themselves to their human neighbors by 

 their gentle ways and familiar habits ; but 

 in these papers Dr. Weed has shown us that 

 they should be no less dear to us when 

 viewed entirely from an economic stand- 

 point. We hope he will give us more of 

 this kind of literature. — F. E. L. Beal. 



Check List of British Columbia Birds. 

 By John Fannin, Curator of the Pro- 

 vincial Museum, Victoria, B. C. 



This list forms a part — pages 13-55 — oi 

 the ' Preliminary Catalogue of the Collec- 

 tions of Natural History and Ethnology in 

 the Provincial Museum.' It enumerates 

 339 species and subspecies, with notes on 

 their distribution, and will prove exceed- 

 ingly useful to students of the bird-life of 

 this interesting region, for a knowledge of 

 the fauna of which we are so greatly in- 

 debted to Mr. Fannin.— F. M. C. 



A Preliminary List of the Birds of 

 Belknap and Merrimack Counties, New 

 Hampshire, with Notes. By Ned Dear- 

 born, Biological Laboratories, New 

 Hampshire College, Durham. 



The author here presents the more im- 

 portant results of ten years' observation, 

 including also such information as he has 

 gathered from other naturalists concerning 

 the 187 species recorded from the region 

 of which he writes. Mr. Dearborn's notes, 

 we are glad to say, are not restricted solely 

 to statements concerning the rarity or 

 abundance and manner of occurrence of 

 a given species, but often contain valuable 

 remarks on habits which show him to be 

 a discriminating student of the living 

 bird.— F. M. C. 



Book News 



The origin of the present widespread in- 

 terest in ornithology is so largely due to the 

 influence of Dr. Coues' classic ' Key to 

 North American Birds,' that we are sure 

 bird students throughout the world will 

 welcome the news that its author is engaged 

 in a thorough revision of his epoch-making 



work. The new edition, which will be 

 expanded to fill two volumes, will be richly 

 illustrated by Mr. Fuertes, and while the 

 advance made in the science of ornithology 

 in the fifteen years which have elapsed 

 since the publication of the second edition 

 naturally leads us to expect some improve- 

 ment in this forthcoming edition, our credi- 

 bility in the powers of human achievement 

 is severely taxed when Dr. Coues asks us 

 to believe that the new ' Key ' will be as 

 far ahead of the second as the second was 

 beyond the first. 



The Wisconsin ' Arbor and Bird Day 

 Annual ' for 1899, issued by L. D. Harvey, 

 State Superintendent of Public Instruction 

 (Madison, Wis.), is a most attractive and 

 useful pamphlet of forty-five pages, con- 

 taining original and selected contributions 

 well suited to interest and instruct children 

 in both the value and beauty of trees and 

 birds. It may well stand as a model for 

 publications of this nature. 



D. C. Heath & Co. have in preparation 

 an elementary bird book by Fannie Hardy 

 Eckstorm. The book is designed for use 

 as a supplementary science reader, and it 

 is the author's object to teach children 

 what to see and how to see it ; and, at the 

 same time, to provide them with something 

 to do. 



The May issue of ' Primary Education ' 

 (Educational Publishing Co.) is a 'Bird 

 Day Number, ' and contains numerous con- 

 tributions of value to teachers and students 

 of birds. 



'Our Dumb Animals,' the vigorously 

 edited organ of the Massachusetts Society 

 for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 

 says of Bird-Lore : " We recommend this 

 publication to ex-Presidents Cleveland and 

 Harrison. /^ n-oiild have much interested 

 President Lincoln . ' ' 



' By the Way-Side ' is the name of a 

 bright little four-page bi-weekly issued by 

 Helen M. Boynton, 118 Michigan, street, 

 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at one cent a copy. 

 It is devoted to "birds, butterflies, trees, 

 flowers, insects and fishes, and deserves 

 the support of everyone interested in popu- 

 larizing the study of these subjects. 



