14 



THE OSPREY. 



JdHN ROWLEY. 



Some time ago the writer enjoyed a pleasant 

 visit with Mr. John Rowley at the American 

 Museum of Natural History. He was found su- 

 perintending the making of a group of grey 

 squirrels. The work was indeed interesting, and 

 with Mr. Rowley's graphic explanations I soon 

 felt that I knew a great deal about the work. 

 My overconfidence led me to remark on the use 

 of natural earth, at the time noting a large chunk 

 showing the marks of picks and other tools 

 used in extricating it from the ground, and a 

 little mammal's nest opening at the side, while 

 the top of the dried grass surface was being cov- 

 ered with a luxuriant growth of grass by the 

 careful insertion of one blade at a time. I was 

 somewhat abashed on being told that the earth 

 was tiiade from papier mache. "Your moss is 

 equally as well made," was my next remark; but 

 this proved to be the natural moss preserved by a 

 glycerine solution. The work is truly wonder- 

 ful; not less so when you can pick up and ex- 

 amine parts rather than look at the complete 

 group in a glass museum case. 



Mr. Rowley says that his thirst for knowledge of 

 the ways of wild birds and beasts extends back to 

 boyhood days. As he grew older all his spare time 

 was given to the study of natural history. At 

 school, many an hour was stolen from the legiti- 

 mate lines of study and spent m dwelling upon 

 his favorite hobby. Later, taxidermic "paresis" 

 took a firm hold upon him, and he began to 

 hunt through the libraries and publishing houses 

 for works upon the subject of taxidermy. It is 

 needless to say that perhaps fifteen years ago he 

 failed to find any that satisfactorily explained the 

 processes, so he finally hit upon a new plan. 

 He procured a good fresh specimen of the 

 Screech Owl and took it to an old German taxi- 

 dermist, who was prevailed upon to permit him 

 to look around the shop for a while. It goes 

 without saying that his gaze was most frequently 

 directed toward those operations in which the 

 owl was most concerned, and here he secured 

 his first practical information in bird taxidermy. 



Later he began to visit the .American ]\Iuseum 

 for the purpose of study and comparison. It 

 was not Ions' before he secured an introduction 

 to the late Jenness Richardson, then chief of the 

 Department of Taxidermy. He soon struck up 

 a strong friendship with Mr. Richardson, and 

 many pleasant excursions were made together 

 in search of material for local groups. When in 

 1880 an opening occurred in the depnrtment, 

 young Rowley was engaged as an assistant. 

 Under Mr. Richardson's admirable instruction h-: 

 shot ahead rapidly and soon learned to success- 

 fully mount, not only the smaller birds and 

 mammals, but became initiated into the mys- 

 teries of the preparation of "manikins" for 

 mounting larce mammals, and the construction 

 of groups. Mrs. E. S. Mogridge was at that 

 time engaged in modelling artificial foliage for 

 the bird aroups then in Dreparation: from her he 

 learned this work so imnortant in making arouos. 



Udou the death of 'VT-- Richardson, in i8q.i, 

 he became chief of the department. Under his 

 direction the work has gone ahead rapidly and 

 well, befitting the grand Aluseum th^t is in the 

 orocess of growth in our .\merican Metropolis. — 

 W. A. J. 



Recent Literature. 



HOW TO NAME THE BIRDS. A Pocket 

 Guide. By H. E. Parkhurst. New York: 

 Charles Scribner's Sons, 1898. Flexible leather, 

 $1.00 net. 



"Hast thou named all the birds without a 

 gun?" was the question asked by the tender- 

 hearted Sage of Concord, and the secret of such 

 a feat is given by H. E. Parkhurst in this little 

 volume. It is "a pocket guide to all the land 

 birds and to the principal water fowd normally 

 found in the New England States, New York, 

 Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, for the use of 

 field ornithologists." Every one who has studied 

 liirds has at some time felt the need of just such 

 a little companion as this concise little hand- 

 book, that can be easily carried in a pocket, to 

 be called forth when needed to aid in the identity 

 of any feathered stranger that he may meet. 



The system of classification is very simple. 

 As in many of the popular hand-books of recent 

 years, Mr. Parkhurst has disregarded the classi- 

 fications which to the beginner may seem long 

 and laborious, and has adopted one of his own 

 that must attract by reason of its simplicity and 

 eminent usefulness. 



The main and most interesting classification 

 which Mr. Parkhurst has adopted is that re- 

 ferring to the time when a bird may be found in 

 any given locality. Four groups are used, all 

 birds falling naturally into one or another of 

 these groups. The first comprises those that 

 come from the south in the spring and return 

 in the autumn, being known as Summer birds; 

 the second, those that come from farther north 

 in the winter and .go back there when warm 

 weather begins in the spring, earning for them- 

 selves the name of Winter birds: the third group 

 consists of those that come from the far south 

 in the spring and journey far to the north, the 

 Migrants; and the fourth group comprises those 

 that remain in the same locality the year round, 

 and are known as Permanent. 



.\no.thcr division is made on the basis of the 

 prevailing color. Black and yellow are the most 

 con>mon and easily distinguished of bird colors, 

 and therefore the first two classes in this new 

 sub-division contain the birds marked with one 

 or the other of those two colors. The neutrals 

 form a third class, the black and yellow, com- 

 bined, a fourth, and those marked with blue or 

 red the fifth and last class. 



Another interesting feature is that below the 

 title of the species is a summarized color descrip- 

 tion in just a line divided into two parts, the 

 first referring to the upper side of the bird and 

 the other to t'^'e lower. 



These classifications will overcome much diffi- 

 culty and confusion in naming a bird, since those 

 characteristics are chosen which are most ap- 

 parent to the ordinary observer. — .\. B. 



OUTDOOR STUDIES. A reading book of 

 Nature Studv. Bv James G. Needh^m. New 

 ■S'ork: .American Book Company, i8gS. Cloth, 

 40c. 



A very good expression of the constantly in- 

 creasing interest in nature study is this excellent 

 little book, "Outdoor Studies." Professor Need- 

 ham has been all his life a close student of 

 animals and plants, and his book testifies to the 

 zeal and enthusiasm with which he pursues his 



