Recently published Ornithological Works. G21 



XXX. — Notices of recent Ornithological Publications. 



Eaton on the Birds of New York. 



[New York State Museum. Memoir 12. Birds of New York. Ey 

 Elon Howard Eaton. Part 2. Pp. 1-719, pis. 43-106. Albany 

 (University of the State of New York), 1914. 4to.] 



This massive volume is the second and concluding portion 

 of a work, the first portion of which, published in 1910, 

 contained an account of the Water-, Shore-, and Game-birds 

 of the State of New York (see ' Ibis,' 1910, p. 740). 



The first sixty pages of the present volume are occupied 

 with chapters on ecology, economics, and bird-protection, 

 including the provision of nesting-boxes and of special plan- 

 tations for sheltering and attracting birds. The rest of the 

 volume is taken up with the systematic descriptions, com- 

 mencing with the Accipitres, or Raptores as they are 

 commonly called in the United States, and completing the 

 Passeres. No complete synonymy is given beyond a 

 reference to the first description, to Dekay's ' Zoology of 

 New York ' (published in 1844), and the A. O. U. Check-list, 

 which is followed throughout as regards classification and 

 nomenclature. It is noticeable that, although descriptions 

 of the species and subspecies as well as diagnoses of the 

 orders and families are given, no attempt has been made to 

 deal with the genera in the same way. The distribution 

 within the State is given at some length, and a paragraph on 

 haunts and habits is in very many cases illustrated by a 

 '^ half-tone " of the nest and eggs or in some cases of the 

 young bird, which greatly adds to the attractiveness of the 

 volume, though it has unfortunately necessitated the use of 

 a heavily loaded paper, which greatly adds to its weight. 



Every species is illustrated on the series of sixty-four 

 coloured plates prepared by the well-known American bird- 

 artist Louis Agassiz Fuertes, and these are perhaps the most 

 attractive feature of the volume. Among them we would 

 specially commend those of the Arctic Three-toed Wood- 



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