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Land Birds of Northern New York. A 

 Pocket Guide to Common Land Birds 

 of the St. Lawrence Valley and the 

 Lowlands in General of Northern New 

 York. By Edmund J. S.\wyer. Illus- 

 trated by the Author. Published under 

 the auspices of the Watertown Bird 

 Club, 1916. 90 pages. Paper 35 cents; 

 cloth, 50 cents; both postpaid. For sale 

 by local bookstores, and by A. C. 

 Rogers, 325 Jay St., Watertown, N. Y. 



The resident of northern New York 

 who is a beginner in bird-study should 

 find this a handy little (3^^ x 6^ inches) 

 companion in the field, to tell him the 

 names of about 130 of the commoner 

 land birds of his region. The arrange- 

 ment is in groups, such as 'Brightly 

 Colored Birds,' 'Tree Climbers and Creep- 

 ers,' etc., in which, it is believed, a begin- 

 ner can find his birds more readily than 

 if grouped in families of which he knows 

 next to nothing. It would have been still 

 better, perhaps, to base the entire arrange- 

 ment on one feature, such as color, size, 

 habit or habitat. One seeing his first Red- 

 headed Woodpecker would be puzzled 

 whether to look for it in one of the groups 

 mentioned above or in 'Birds Distinctly 

 Marked,' or 'Birds of Distinctive Outline 

 or Form.' It is taken for granted that the 

 serious student will have at home some 

 bulkier work for further reference. To 

 the Watertown bird-lover this booklet 

 will be of particular value in letting him 

 know what birds visit the city park, and 

 where and when to expect them. 



More care in some of the descriptions 

 would have added to the value and not to 

 the size of the volume. No mention is 

 made of the characteristic tail-pattern of 

 the Magnolia Warbler, or of slight but 

 important color-differences between the 

 Northern and Migrant Shrikes. The 

 female Rose-breasted Grosbeak should be 

 better described than 'Like female of No. 

 517 [Purple Finch].' There is no adequate 

 description of the Blackburnian Warbler 

 and the colored picture is drawn so as to 

 conceal its unique orange throat. A 



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Kingfisher would doubtless object to 

 having the Blue Jay called 'The only dis- 

 tinctly blue bird of such large size.' The 

 Field and Chipping Sparrows are notice- 

 ably different in form, and the Chebec is not 

 'without distinct wing-bars.' A compari- 

 son of the Scarlet Tanager's song with the 

 Robin's, and of the Swamp Sparrow's 

 with the Chipping's, would be of more 

 service than the vague descriptions given, 

 and certainly nearer the mark than the 

 statement that the Chickadee 'has a spring 

 song similar to that of the White-throated 

 Sparrow.' 



Besides the colored frontispiece of a 

 dozen brightly-colored birds — pretty, but 

 marred by the printer — there are draw- 

 ings, based on life-sketches of wild birds, 

 of 53 species, in Mr. Sawyer's usual most 

 pleasing and spirited style, well known to 

 the readers of Bird-Lore. They add 

 greatly to the value and attractiveness of 

 the book. The Flicker, however, should 

 not have a light iris, and the Water 

 Thrush looks rather more like a Louisiana. 

 A Swift or two would have added to the 

 usefulness of the plate of 'Small Sailing 

 and Skimming Birds.' — C. H. R. 



Conservation of Our Wild Birds. 

 Methods of Attracting and Increasing 

 the Numbers of Useful Birds and the 

 Establishment of Sanctuaries. By 

 Bradford A. Scudder. Issued by the 

 Massachusetts Fish and Game Pro- 

 tective Association, 748 Tremont 

 Building, Boston. 71 pages. 



This publication should prove of great 

 use to anyone interested in the subject, 

 whether he wants to install a few bird- 

 attracting devices in a suburban yard, or 

 to turn a great estate into a fully equipped 

 sanctuary. Its scope is indicated by its 

 chapter-headings: Birds That We Should 

 Encourage to Nest about Our Country 

 Homes; Nesting-Boxes; Martin Houses; 

 Bird- Baths; Winter Feeding of Birds; 

 Berry- and Seed-Bearing Trees and 

 Shrubs; Aquatic Plants; The Establish- 

 ment of a Sanctuary; Enemies of Wild 



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