25oofe Mt\ii^ antr lUebieiusf 



Die Vogel Handbuch Der Systema- 

 TiscHEN Ornithologie. By Anton 

 Reichenow. Zwei Bande. II. Band. 

 Large 8vo. 628 pages; numerous illus 

 trations. Ferdinand Enke, Stuttgart, 

 1914. 



The second and concluding part of this 

 important work comprises the Yoke-toed 

 l)irds, with the exception of the Parrots, the 

 Kingfishers, Nightjars, Hummingbirds and 

 related groups, and all the perching birds. 



While deserving high praise as a practi- 

 cal handbook of the birds of the world, 

 the admittedly artificial classification 

 employed seems to us indefensible. An 

 example of this arrangement is seen in 

 the Woodpeckers, where the first "sub- 

 family" into which the true Woodpeckers, 

 are divided is characterized by the absence 

 of bristles over the nostrils. In this group 

 are associated several of the most divergent 

 types of the family, including a genus of 

 Flickers (allied to certain members of the 

 second subfamily) and a genus of Ivory- 

 bills (closely related to CampephiUis) in 

 the third subfamily. 



Again, Vireosylva is transferred from the 

 Vireos to a position in the Wood Warblers 

 next to the Ovenbird, although the char- 

 acter on which this change is based (the 

 presence of only nine instead of ten 

 obvious primaries) does not even hold 

 throughout the genus. 



As a result of this ill-advised system, 

 the inexperienced student is liable to be 

 constantly misled as to the actual affini- 

 ties of the birds regarding which he is 

 seeking information. — W. DeW. M. 



Through the Brazilian Wilderness. 

 By Theodore Roosevelt. With illus- 

 trations by Kermit Roosevelt and other 

 members of the expedition. 8vo. xvi-|- 

 383 pages, numerous half-tones, 3 maps. 

 New York, Charles Scribner's Sons. 

 1914. 



To our mind, the most remarkable and 

 significant things about Colonel Roose- 

 velt's explorations in Brazil are first, that 

 he should have embarked upon them, 



second, that he should have succeeded 

 in making them. 



At this stage of the earth's geographii 

 history, it may be accepted as an axiom 

 that anything in the way of research 

 which has not been done is hard to do. If 

 there be a bird island, mountain top, or 

 river which civilized man has not reached, 

 it may be taken for granted that each and 

 all are difficult of access. 



Bird islands may claim only the atten- 

 tion of the ornithologist, mountain tops 

 arouse only the ambition of the alpinist, 

 but rivers appeal to mankind from many 

 viewpoints. It follows, therefore, that 

 our axiom applies to them with especial 

 force. Possibly there are trips in South 

 .\merica which ofifer more obstacles than 

 the one Colonel Roosevelt here describes; 

 but, so far as we are aware, they have 

 not yet found their historian. 



It is particularly to be noted that 

 Colonel Roosevelt selected this route 

 through an unknown region at a time in 

 life when most field-naturalists are con- 

 ducting their observations in the study. 

 Wallace was twenty-six and Bates twenty- 

 three years old when together they went 

 to the Amazon; Darwin was but twenty- 

 two when he sailed on the 'Beagle.' And 

 not one of the three went so far from the 

 beaten trail as did Colonel Roosevelt at 

 the age of fifty-five. 



Dwelling still on certain features which 

 distinguish this volume from most books 

 of travel, it is to be observed that the 

 leader of the expedition is not the 'whole 

 show.' He appears, in, truth, as its his- 

 torian who records the activities of each 

 member of the party (his own being given 

 no more, and possibly less, than their just 

 due), and rejoices in the achievements of 

 his comrades with a whole-hearted cordial- 

 ity which must have exercised no small 

 influence on the results achieved by the 

 expedition as a whole. It is simply the 

 principle of the "square deal" carried into 

 exploration, and we commend the atti- 



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