12 



THE (30LOGISr 



Davie's Nfsts and Eggs of North 

 American Birds. 



One short eventful year has rolled around 

 since we had the pleasure of examining the 

 advance pages of the first edition of Davie's 

 "Egg Check List of North American 

 Birds." Our opinion at that time was 

 given as follows in the Young Oologist of 

 February last : 



" Last December we received a letter from 

 our friend, Mr. Oliver Davie of Columbus, 

 O., in which he hinted (hat in a short time 

 he would place before the oologists of 

 America a work which would be as neces- 

 sary and essential for thfm to have as 

 "bread and butter," and, in fact, "they 

 couldn't get along without it." Knowing 

 Mr. D. to be a man of his word and not 

 wishing to doubt his statements, we waited 

 patiently to see "the elephant." About 

 January 1st we received advance or sample 

 pages of his new work. To say that we 

 wei'e pleased would be putting it mildly. 

 We were then and are now ready to en- 

 dorse any of Friend D.'s statements bear- 

 ing on the value and necessity of his work. 

 The work stands alone in 'its chosen field, 

 and thousands will be sold during the com- 

 ing season. The book itself is a marvel of 

 cheapness and beauty, and had Friend D. 

 been one of the "Big Bird Doctors," the 

 idea of sending out the work for less than 

 $2.00 would have been absurd ; but w^e are 

 happy to say that, for our good, Friend D. 

 does not belong, as yet, to that fraternity. 

 He has concluded to content himself with 

 very small profit, and hns placed the price 

 so low that every American collector will 

 obtain a copy. We trust that the extensive 

 sale of his work will more than reward 

 him for his generosity. And we will say 

 to the collectors obtaining a copj'^ from us, 

 we will not only refund their money if not 

 more than satisfied, but will send stamps 

 sufficient to pay the return postage." 



Only ten months has elapsed since the 

 first copy of that edition was placed into 

 liands of American collectors, and such a 

 necessity was the work that not one dozen 

 copies now remiiin in the po.ssession of deal- 

 ers, and thousand of collectors now stand 

 ready to attest to its value. Friend Davie 

 writes us in letter dated Dec. 21, 1885: 

 " Tott lutvi' Hold tJirce copies to one of all the 

 other dealers combined." We have not had 

 a single chance to refvmd money to a dis- 

 satisfied purchaser. 



To-day, Dec. 24th, '85, we are in receipt 

 of advance pages of the second edition. 

 Words cannot express our pleasure, and 

 effuse as much as we may we cannot write 

 Mr. Davie a worthy testimonial. Ever 

 since February last he has been hard at 

 work preparing for this new edition. Col- 

 lectors throughout the land have been in- 

 terested, and have made it their work; hun- 

 dreds, yes, thousands of suggestions, cor- 

 rections and additions have been sent to 

 him. These valuable and original helps, 

 with gleanings from all previous writings 

 pertaining to oology, combined with his 

 own no small knowledge on the subject, 

 have been thoroughly and carefully sifted. 

 The "chaff" has been cast aside and the 

 "wheat" Friend D. presents to us in one 

 of the most valuable works ever placed 

 before the oological world. The work 

 contains in the neighborhood of 200 pages, 

 (nearlj' three times that of the first edition,) 

 and is embelished with seven full page 

 engravings by Theodore Jasper, A. M., 

 M. D. These illustrations are true and 

 careful delineations of the "American Water 

 Ouzels and nest," "Least Tit and nest." 

 " Traill's Flycatcher and nest, " "Burrow- 

 ing Owl and nesting place," Swallow- 

 tailed Kite and nest," "Wood Ducks and 

 nesting place" and "Dabchicks and nest." 

 This edition contains and gives the habital 

 and breeding range of each species, syn- 

 onyms — that is, all the known names of each 

 bird, with complete descriptions of all the 

 nests and eggs of ail North American Land 

 and Water birds known to date — inclu'iing 

 several species never before described in 

 any work. The "Notes" in the first 

 edition have been done away with and the 

 whole contained in the body of the work, 

 •s valuable improvement. So many and 

 valuable have been the corrections, changes 

 and additions throughout the work that 

 the reader would hardly recognize it 

 as a "second edition" of Davie's "Egg 

 Check List." Friend Davie has prop- 

 erly changed the title to the "Egg 

 Check List and Key to the Nests and Eggs 

 of North American Birds." The work will 

 be ready for delivery January 15th, and 



