THE OSPREY. 



11 



Recent Literature. 



Citizen Bird, Scenes from Ijird-life in Plain Eng- 

 lish for Beginners. By Mabei, Osgood Wright and 

 Elliott Coues. With iii illustrations by Louis 

 Agassiz Fuertes. New York : TheMacmillan Com- 

 pany, 1897. Cloth $1.50 



The Chicago 7'ii/ntiii- says of this work; "One 

 naturally turns with high expectations to a new book 

 by two such noted bird-loveis as Mrs. Wright and 

 Dr. Coues, and one meets with no disappointment in 

 this case. The book is a charmingly simple yet 

 fairly complete introduction to the science of orni- 

 thology written for children in Mrs. Wright's own 

 sympathetic style, and rendered authentic through- 

 out its 430 pages by Dr. Coues, the highest authority 

 on North American birds. 



"The work is thrown into story form, telling how 

 Olive, Dodo, Nat, and Rap studied all the birds in 

 their region, learning to regard them as fellow-citi- 

 zens entitled to protection in life, liberty, and the 

 pursuit of happiness. Most of the didactic talking is 

 done by a wise and obliging uncle, in whom one 

 recognizes the personality of Dr. Coues himself. By 

 gentle stages this learned but jolly Dr. Hunter intro- 

 duces his little pupils to all the simpler elements of 

 bird lore, teaching them to know a bird at sight and 

 to love it on general principles. At the same time 

 the soundest scientific principles underlie even the 

 simplest explanations and descriptions. 



"To vary the text there are numerous bird stories, 

 the materials for which the little pupils in time learn 

 to gather with their own eyes. There are over 100 

 cuts by Louis Agassiz Fuertes that are as good as 

 first-class black and white illustrations can be. 

 There is no other book in existence so well fitted for 

 arousing and directing the interest that all children 

 of any sensibility feel toward the birds " 



It is a question when one becomes too old to enjoy 

 such a delightful book. Even those of us who make 

 a serious study of birds will find in it much of inter- 

 est, and perhaps here and there something new ; but 

 the well-known facts are put forth in a way that holds 

 fast attention. 



The beginner will find it an easy and most pleasant 

 guide to all of the chief varieties of North American 

 birds; and, unlike in many works on popular orni- 

 thology, may feel sure that every statement is authen- 

 tic. For the want of such a book as this, the student 

 seeking a first knowledge of ornithology is apt to be- 

 come confused and discouraged by the more techni- 

 cal standard works. 



The sales of the book prove that it is appreciated 

 by the public ; for some time they have averaged 500 

 copies per day. This, in the dullest season, seems 

 almost phenomenal, and a good autumn trade may 

 be well expected. 



Undoubtedly the book's great success is due largely 

 to the Fuertes drawings. There will be many buyers 

 glad of the opportunity of securing this set of draw- 

 ings at the low price of the book. They are the 

 finest series of in portraits of birds ever printed in 

 black and white. 



Through the kindness of the Macmillan Company 

 we republish two of the illustrations in this number 

 The one of the Chimney Swift was selected be- 

 cause of the late interest in the question of this 

 species' method of breaking off twigs. Mr Fuertes 

 painted this picture from nature, and we have reason 

 to believe that it is depicted as truthfully as are all of 

 his paintings. 



Extermination of Noxious Animals by Bounties. By 

 T. S. Palmer, First Assistant, Biological Survey, 

 11. S. Department of .■\griculture Reprinted from 

 the Yearbook of the Department of Agriculture for 

 1896. 



The results of Dr. Palmer's investigations dis- 

 courage bounty legislation. He believes that the 

 extermination of noxious animals can be accom- 

 plished more effectively and economically through 

 the efi'orts of individual land owners than by the 

 lavish expenditure of public funds. 



Mr. David L. Savage writes the first installment 

 of the "Birds of the Midland Region" in the June 

 Midland Monlli/y. The present paper is illustrated 

 by a photograph of the eggs of the Krider's Hawk 

 and a photograph of a tree containing a Great Horned 

 Owl's nest, both by Mr. Rudolph M. Anderson, and 

 four pretty little drawings by Mr. Walter G. Savage. 

 This and the papers to follow furnish the Midland 

 and its readers with a set of articles by a competent 

 ornithologist giving an insight to the nature of the 

 midland birds. 



Dr. Goues' Column. 



Shooting-scores have not hitherto been given in 

 The Osprey, and I should not advise the editor to 

 make them a feature of "the leading monthly for 

 bird-students in America." But as accidents will 

 happen in the best regulated magazine offices, so they 

 may occur in any gun club. While I was in Salem, 

 N. Y., last July, I was introduced by my friend. Dr. 

 Maguire, to the Osoma Gun Club. I used to be a 

 crack shot, away back in the seventies, but had 

 hardly had a gun in my hands for twenty years when 

 I was called to the scratch to fire at clay pigeons 

 from the trap, with the following curious result ; 



1. Parker i i o i i i o o i o — 6 



2. "Commodore" o i i i i i i i i i — g 



3 Whitcomb i i i i o o i o i i— 7 



4. Coues I I I I I I I I I I — 10 



5. Wilson o I o I I I o I I I — - 



6. "Osoma" o o i o i i i o i i — 6 



I ran away from Salem as soon as I could, after 

 that, and presently found myself at Dublin, N. H., 

 where Mr. Fuertes was resting upon the laurels won 

 by his exquisite illustrations of 'Citizen Bird,' seek- 

 ing fresh inspiration in the woods, and doing a little 

 work to keep his hand in. There I also had the 

 pleasure of meeting the eminent artist, Mr. Abbott 

 H. Thayer, whose demonstration of certain effects of 

 light and shade so astonished the American Ornithol- 

 ogists' I/nion last November, and whose son, by the 

 way, is the brightest ornithologist for his tender years 

 I ever knew. 



The course of my irregular summer migration soon 

 brought me to Greenacre-on-the-Piscataqua, near the 

 sleepy old town of Portsmouth, N. H.. where all my 

 earthly troubles began on the gth of September, 1842. 

 Among the many lecturers of the Greenacre school 

 was Mrs. F. B. Hornbrooke, of Newton, Mass., whom 

 I had the pleasure of introducing to her audience, 

 and whose address, entitled 'Ornamentation at the 

 Expense of Bird Life. ' was an eloquent protest against 

 the cruelty feminine vanity is causing countless thou- 

 sands of our feathered fellow-citizens to mourn. May 

 such good work as hers go on, till there is an Audu- 

 bon Society to protect the birds in every community 

 throughout the land ' The odiousness of bird-milli- 

 nery for women's head-gear is obvious already ; but 

 the badge of dishonor will be worn till it becomes 

 unfashionable. 



