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Bird- Lore 



could have spared the less familliar Connec- 

 ticut Warbler or the Tennessee, but this is 

 indeed too much for our equanimity. Cruel 

 fashion deprives us of our birds, wliile a 

 crueler science deprives us of the very names 

 by which they might linger in our memories ! 

 Some critics might take exception to the 

 contents of that ornithological scrap basket, 

 the 'Hypothetical List' or object to Oporor- 

 nis as a full genus, but such minor matters 

 in no wise affect the general excellence of 

 the work. It is one that reflects great credit 

 on its author and will be nothing short of a 

 boon to everybody who wants to learn the 

 best of everything that is known about the 

 North American Warblers — J. D., Jr. 



Bird-Craft. A Field Book of Two Hun- 

 dred Song, Game and Water Birds. By 

 Mabel Osgood Wright. With eighty 

 full-page plates by Louis Agassiz Fuertes. 

 New York, The Macmillan Company, 

 1907. i2mo, 319 pages. 



The contents of this standard book have 

 long since passed with honor the examination 

 of the reviewer, and we call attention to this 

 new edition only to comment on the new 

 dress with which 'Bird-Craft' celebrates its 

 twelfth year. The text is printed on un- 

 glazed paper, adding greatly to ihe pleasure 

 with which the book is read, while Mr. 

 Fuertes' bird portraits ('drawing' is far too 

 indefinite a term to apply to the character- 

 istic work of this artist) are effectively repro- 

 duced as plates on the coated paper half- 

 tone engravings require. The corners of the 

 pages are rounded, the cover is flexible, and, 

 in short, the book's makeup makes it closely 

 conform to the requirements of its subtitle. — 

 F. M. C. 



The Birds of Amherst and Vicinity. By 

 Hubert Lyman Clark. Second edition; 

 revised and rewritten. Amherst, Mass., 

 Press of Carpenter and Moorehouse, 1906. 

 i2mo, 103 pages. 



The original edition of this list, published 

 in 1887, has been long out of print, and the 

 present edition has been prepared to meet 

 the demand which every authoritative, easily 

 accessible, local list creates for itself. Ten 

 species are added to the list of 1887, making 

 185 which are included n the present list. 

 A 'Field Key' of twenty-one pages is a new 



feature, while the 'Artificial Key' has been 

 remodeled. Brief descriptions of plumage 

 are included under each species, with the 

 remarks on its local status, making it possible 

 for the student to begin his study of Amherst 

 birds with no other help than this book 

 affords. The nomenclature is several years 

 behind the times, but since the A. O. U. 

 'Check-list' now in preparation promises to 

 make our current classification and nomen- 

 clature quite out-of-date, it is probably 

 advisable to await its appearance and take 

 the medicine at one dose. — F. M. C. 



Biological Conditions in Nebraska. By 

 R. H. Wolcott. Studies from the Zoo- 

 logical Laboratory of the University of 

 Nebraska. No. 68. Lincoln, Neb. De- 

 cember 1906. Pp. 23-34. 



Within a few pages Dr. Wolcott draws a 

 clear and comprehensive picture of faunal 

 conditions in Nebraska. The state is divided 

 into a 'Missouri Wooded Region, ' a 'Prairie 

 Region,' a 'Sandhill Region,' a 'Plains 

 Region' and a 'Pine-Woods Region ' In 

 other words, Nebraska is a true connecting 

 link between eastern and western bird-life. 

 In its eastern part many arboreal eastern 

 birds find the western limit of their range, 

 the avifauna of the plains is fully developed 

 in its arid western portions, while the in- 

 trusion of wooded foothills in the north- 

 western part of the state marks the eastern 

 limits of the range of a number of western 

 arboreal species. Small wonder, then, that 

 400 birds have been recorded from Ne- 

 braska, — a larger number, we believe, than 

 has been found in any other state except 

 California and Texas. — F. M. C. 



The Ornithological Magazines 



The Al'k. — There is much that is com- 

 mon-place in the January 'Auk,' for it can 

 hardly be expected to furnish new thrills 

 every quarter; still it is very pleasant for its 

 readers to wade in fancy up to their waists, 

 with Mr. C. G. Abbott, in the mud and 

 water of the Newark marshes, and study at 

 close range such denizens as the Florida 

 Gallinule, Least Bittern, Pied-billed Grebe, 

 and others whose presence so near great 

 centers of population was hardly to have 

 been suspected. Mr. C. W. Beebe's 'Notes 



