358 Recently published Ornithological Works. 



for 1905 is contained an excellent account by the late Prof. 

 Newton of tlie three Naumanns and of the festival held in 

 their honour at Cothen, when the " Naumann-denkmal " was 

 inaugurated. This is followed by a report on the '' Pro- 

 ceedings^' of the International Ornithological Congress of 

 1905. We may also call attention to Mr. Herman's important 

 essay on Geronticus eremita -and its former existence in Europe 

 in vol. xiv. (1907). 



27. ' The Auk: 



[The Auk. A Quarterly Journal of Ornithology. Vol. xxv. Nos. 2, 

 3, 4 (April-October 1908).] 



The April number of our American contemporary begins 

 with a long article by Mr. C. C. Adams on " The Ecological 

 Succession of Birds," a title somewhat in the nature of a 

 " hard saying " for the multitude. The author considers it 

 hiffli time that more attention was devoted to the nature 

 of the birds' surroundings, and to the effect of the permanence 

 or change of those surroundings on the birds themselves. He 

 also thinks that present works refer too exclusively to political 

 or other convenient "" areas/' which are often of a highly com- 

 posite nature — hill, moor, marsh, and so forth. He speaks 

 for his own country, of course, and not for Britain, where we 

 are deluged with books on the birds of the marsh, the birds of 

 the shore, and the like ; but we quite agree with him in his 

 estimate of the importance of a bird's environment, and the 

 changes which that environment makes in the creature itself, 

 if indeed it does not necessitate its departure. 



In the April and October numbers, Mr. Ruthven Deane 

 gives details of a letter of Audubon to his family, of his 

 letters of introduction carried on his Missouri River Ex- 

 pedition, and of the fate of the copperplates of the folio 

 edition of the ' Birds of America,' coupled with a sketch of 

 the engravers. Mr. Deane is a well-known authority on 

 such matters, and we are glad to read the articles from his 

 pen referring to the great American Ornithologist, and also 

 that by Dr. C. H. Merriam on the "King Cameos of 

 Audubon " in the October number. 



