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What Bird Is That:-' A Pocket Museum 

 of the Land-Birds of the Eastern United 

 States Arranged According to Season. 

 By Frank M. Chapman. With illus- 

 trations of 301 birds in color, by Ed- 

 mund J. Sawyer. I). Appleton & Co. 

 i2mo, 144 pages, 8 color plates. 



Bird-lovers who visit the American 

 Museum of Natural History should make 

 a point of seeing the Collection of Birds 

 found within 50 miles of New York City. 

 In it they will find specimens of each of the 

 350 odd species of birds which have been 

 found within this area arranged according 

 to the classification of the American 

 Ornithologist's Union and also a smaller 

 'Seasonal Collection' composed of only 

 the permanent resident species and the 

 migrants which are then present. As the 

 latter come or go they are added to or taken 

 from the collection, which consequently 

 is restricted to the birds of the season. 

 This scheme not only makes it a compara- 

 tively easy matter to identify some bird 

 one has seen in the vicinity, but it gives 

 the student, and especially teachers with 

 their classes, a comprehensive view of 

 the birds of the day, as it were. 



It is this method of exhibition which Dr. 

 Chapman has attempted to embody in 

 this little volume and his efforts have been 

 most effectively supported by Mr. Sawyer's 

 admirable illustrations. These represent 

 museum cases in which the birds are placed 

 on shelves in orderly array. The first two 

 'Cases' contain the Permanent Resident 

 and Winter Visitant Land-Birds of the 

 northern states, while Cases 3 and 4 

 depict the same groups in the southern 

 states. The remaining four cases figure 

 the migrants of March, April, and May 

 arranged according to the times of their 

 arrival. The birds in ea< li case arc drawn 

 to the same scale and the important field 

 character of comparative size is thereby 

 clearly brought out, while the grouping of 

 many birds together permits of quids 

 reference and dim t 1 omparison. For eacb 

 'specimen' Dr. Chapman has added what 



be calls a 'label' in which the bird's range, 

 distinctive characteristics, and habits are 

 briefly stated. The entering wedge of 

 bird-lore is assuredly here whittled to a 

 tine point and the little volume may be 

 commended as an introduction to the 

 study of ornithology. — E. C. B. 



The Ornithological Magazines 



The Auk. — The first article of the July 



number is 'Notes on some American 

 Ducks,' by Allan Brooks, written from a 

 very intimate knowledge of this group of 

 birds and illustrated with pleasing half- 

 tones of Harrow's Golden-eye in life. The 

 differences between the females of the two 

 Golden-eyes, which are very much alike 

 and easily confused, are gone into with 

 great detail and there are figures of bills, 

 skulls and trachea of the two spec ies. 

 'Courtship in Birds,' by C. W. Townsend, 

 is a charmingly written presentation of 

 common-sense views on this much-dis- 

 cussed subject. As the paper is likely to be 

 quoted, attention should be called to an 

 apparent slip in speaking of the flight- 

 sound of Wilson's Snipe. Unlike the Wood 

 cock, it is tail not wing-feathers which arc 

 modified in the Snipe, and which exper- 

 iment has indicated to be their musical in- 

 strument. Kennard narrates an investiga- 

 tion of the breeding habits of the Rusty 

 Blackbird in northern New England, with 

 photographs of nesting-sites and a full- 

 page illustration of a nest and complement 

 of eggs. G. B. Grinnell in 'Recollections of 

 Audubon Park' gives interesting side-lights 

 on the family life of Audubon from 

 personal boyhood experiences, which em- 

 phasize Madam Audubon's great per- 

 sonality. Full-page portraits of Mrs. 

 Lucy Bake well Audubon and John Wood 



house Audubon accompany this article. 



Hollister presents some statistical matter 



on the relative abundance of wild Pucks 



at a Wisconsin lo< alii v during the nineties. 



The Black Duck in that region is 



U08) 



