176 



THE OSPEEY. 



The Game Birds and Wild Fowl of the 

 British Islands. B3' Charles Dixon. Second 

 edition, enlarg-ed and thoroughlj' revised by the 

 author. Springfield: Paiison & Brailsford. 

 1900. [4to, xxviii -f 476 p., 41 col. pi. J 



The first edition of Mr. Dixon's work was 

 published in 1893, and since then, as the author 

 says, '-our knowledge of various species has 

 been considerably increased." The new edition 

 has, in fact, been quite recast and is essentially 

 a new work. The new illustrations are in the 

 form of colored plates, and the 56 birds illus- 

 trated are introduced in 41 plates pi'epared by 

 the author's "friend, Mr. Charles Whymper." 

 The descriptive matter under each species is dis- 

 tributed under five categories — Geographical 

 distribution. Allied forms. Habits, Nidification, 

 and Diag-nostic characters. This is quite well 

 brought up to date. The coloring is often too 

 much exaggerated or falsely toned. On the 

 whole, however, the work will be useful to a 

 large class of readers. 



The Wilson Bulletin. No. 31. . . A Mon- 

 ograph of the Flicker [Colaptcs a it ra/ 11 s). —By 

 Frank L. Burns. ■■ Oberlin, Ohio, April, 1900. 

 [8vo. t. + 82 p. + i 1.— 50 cents.] 



This is scarcely a monograph inasmuch as no 

 description of the bird itself is given, and the 

 knowledge of its distinctive characters is as- 

 sumed. It is, however, to a considerable extent 

 a monograph of the biology (or rather ecology) 

 of the species based on original observations of 

 the author or his friends. Very few references 

 are made to the observations of others. These 

 ecological data are given under a number of 



heads and the enumeration of these may be com- 

 pared with those g'-iven bj^ Mr. E. Seton 

 Thompson and Dr. Gill (Ospkky for September, 

 1899, and February, 1899). 



After the Introduction and Synonj-ms are con- 

 sidered the Geographical Distribution, Migra- 

 tion, Flight, Roosting, Drum Calls, Voice, Ma- 

 ting'-, Nidification, Position, Excavation, Eggs, 

 Incubation, Young, Molt and Renewal, Food, 

 Enemies, Measurements, Plumage, Hybridism, 

 and Atavism. The monograph ends with the 

 "conclusion" that the bird's assumed very ma- 

 terial "advantages over all other members of 

 the tribe inhabiting the same regions would tend 

 to its preservation, increase and comfort when 

 the less versatile or adaptive species decrease or 

 become extinct under changed conditions." 



The list of vernacular "synonyms" is a very 

 larg-e one, covering 8 pages, and embracing no 

 less than 122 variations. Most of these, how- 

 ever, are very local or very slight orthogra- 

 phical (or cacog^raphical) variants. 



Mr. Burns thinks that "the Flicker has a 

 much greater vocabulary and more modes of 

 expression than any others of our North Ameri- 

 can Woodpeckers, and while the contrast be- 

 tween its so-called song and the inspiring 

 melod}- of our tree songsters is ever so great, its 

 voice blends harmoniously with the mauA' otVier 

 voices and sounds of nature without which the 

 hill, meadow and grove would lose much of their 

 charms." The modifications of its voice are 

 distinguished as Calls, Conversational or Solilo- 

 quizing Notes, Common or Cackling Song and 

 Eove or Breeding Songs. 



