THE OSPREY. 



15 



work. The range of subjects treated is not wide; 

 they are all familiar to most of us, and may 

 ahnost be seen from our doors. The book is 

 written more especially for the boys and girls 

 who are just beginning to see the world of life 

 and beauty that lies at their feet, and is intended 

 to lead them on to a closer and more exhaustive 

 study. 



The very first chapter treats of a humble litt'e 

 plant that every country-bred boy knows at sieht 

 by its expressive common name of "butter and 

 eggs." Naturally enough, the same chapter 

 treats of the inseparable companion of "butter 

 and eggs," when in the flower, the bumble-bee. 

 The story of the skdlful manner in which the 

 bumble-bee secures the nectar from the flower 

 is well told. 



The description of the chipmunk and his habits 

 of life must recall to every one the deep cool 

 shade of the woods and this vivacious little 

 animal skipping along some rotting, moss- 

 covered tree-trunk, fallen to the ground, or 

 sitting erect and motionless watching with bright 

 eyes the movements of the intruder on his do- 

 main. The fifth chapter is a defense of the crow 

 and a strong plea for his economic usefulness. 



The entire book is written in the same strain 

 as the chapters mentioned. In order to prevent 

 the beginner from being terrorized by an array 

 of long scientific names on the first page, such 

 names are grouoed together in the back of the 

 book, reference being made to them by numbers 

 inserted in the text. 



"Outdoor Studies" is no dry comnilation. It 

 is evidentlv the work of one who, while observ- 

 ing carefully and accurately, has seen all things 

 with an artist's eye. and has written for love of 

 the animals and plants he describes. — A. B. 



AT YOU-ALL'S HOUSE. By James New- 

 ton Baskett. New York: The Macmillan Com- 

 pany. 1S98. Cloth. $1.50. 



This little volume with its plain, homely tit'.e 

 is a veritable pastoral, having for its setting an 

 obscvire corner of the great State of Missouri. 

 The author is evidently a man who has lived 

 close to Nature, and communed with her in all 

 her varying moods, from the time when the first 

 green begins to show in the willows by the 

 "branch" till the year fades away in the smoky 

 golden haze of the Indian summer days. He 

 lias run the thread of a pretty little love story 

 through the pages of his book, but they are also 

 replete with bird-lore, and with examples of 

 shrewd observation of the things of out-door 

 life. 



In fact, the text, if such it may be called, of 

 his whole teaching is the nearness and interrela- 

 tion of the lower and the higher forms of animal 

 life. The boy, Shan, who is described as just 

 awakening to another life at the vivifying touch 

 of love, sees everything in a new light, some- 

 times distorted by passion, but more often gleam- 

 ing and glowing in a mellow radiance. 



Like every one else he feels the tremendous 

 mystery with which Nature cloaks herself and 

 hides her working. At one such time he says 

 in his simple dialect, "I read er poem once about 

 birds settin' on the telegraph wires and not 

 knowin' that great messages were passin' 

 through their grasp, and I remember that I 

 pitied 'em, and now. the great w-orld seems 

 throbbin' under my ieet. and I — I — can only hear 

 the hum." 



As Rudyard Kipling, in his Jungle Tales has 

 caught the spirit of the time of "new- talk," so 

 this author has appreciated the tremendous eflect 

 of the spring-time of the year upon a life that is 

 itself just budding and swelling into new strengt'i 

 and new ambitions. It is more than literary, it 

 is real life; it "smells of earth." As we read it. 

 Nature becomes to us more than a mere material 

 environment: we see in the simplest processes 

 that go on day by day around us. the justification 

 of our faith in the great, eternal verities of all 

 life.— A. B. 



THE NATURALIST'S DIRECTORY. Lon- 

 don: L. Upcott Gill, 170 Strand. \V. C, 1898. 

 Paper, is. 



This directory is for the use of students of 

 natural history, and collectors of zoological, bo- 

 tanical, or geological specimens, giving the 

 names and addresses of British and foreign 

 naturalists, natural history agents, societies, and 

 field clubs, museums. ma,gazines. etc. The names 

 of naturalists are principally those of the British 

 Isles. 



OTHER BOOKS RECEIVFD. 



*The Art of Taxidermy ' by John Rowley New York : 

 D Applelon & Co. 1898. Cloth, $200. (With the attic'e 

 whicil Mr Rowley has written for thi.s number of THE 

 OSPREV there appear three illustrations from this book.) 



'Fi.miliar Life in Field and Forest' by F. Schuyler 

 Mathews New York : D. Appleton A Co. Cloth. $1 75. 



' Birds of the United States East of the Rocl^y Jfoun tains.* 

 A Manual for the Identifica'ion of Species in Hand or in 

 Bush. Bv Austin <*. Apfcar. New Yt rk : American Book 

 Co. iSgS'. Cloth. $2 00. 



'The Birds of Indiana ' A descriptive catalogue of the 

 birds that have been observed within the .State with an 

 account of their habits, bv Amos W Butler. From the 

 22d report of the Department of Geolngy and Natural Re- 

 sources of Indiana iSg?. W S Blatchloy, State Ijeologist. 



'With Nature and a Camera.' PeinR the adventure* 

 and observations of a Field Naturalist and an Animal 

 Photographer, by Richard Kearton, F. Z S. Illustrated 

 by iSo pictures 'from photoerap.-s by Chen y Kearton. 

 London: Casse 1 & Co. (.loth. 21 shillings. 



California Department. 



EDITED BV DONALD A. COHEN, ALAMED.\, CAL. 



NEWS FROM THE McILHENNY EXPE- 

 DITION. 



The following is extracted from the Alamedri 

 "Daily Argus," July 28, printed from a letter 

 froiTi Mr. E. A. Mcllhenny, of Avery's Island. 

 La., written from Point Barrow. Alaska, March 

 31, to Mr. H. R. Taylor, of .Mameda. Mr. Mc- 

 llhenny states that although his expedition had a 

 close call to starvation, they are in good health, 

 and with his provisions and with those at the 

 whaling station 300 men have been saved. 



He further states: "When we get our collection 

 of natural history specimens dow-n, it will be the 

 most valuable one ever brought from the Arctic. 

 We have made new finds in birds and mammals, 

 and some surprising records. 



"The relief expedition sent to the ice-bound 

 whaling fleet by the Government brought 4C0 

 reindeer for food on the 29th instant, which were 

 not needed, as we have killed over i.ooo caribou 

 up to date." 



Mr. N. G. Buxton, frraduate of Leland Stan- 

 ford. Jr.. University, Cal.. and Mr. W. E. Snv- 

 der, of Beaver Dam, Wis., are Mr. Mcllhenny's 

 assistants. A letter from Mr. Buxton appears 

 in the Alameda "Daily Argus," July 29, in which 



