540 Recently published Oniitholoyical ]Vorks. 



Mhat different arrangement is pursued. The grcmps of 

 birds, which are placed in a Hall by themselves, are designed 

 to illustrate not only the postures and habits, but also the 

 haunts of the different species. Besides the specimens 

 themselves (male, female, nest, eggs, and young) a reproduc- 

 tion of from 60 to 160 square feet of the country surrounding 

 each group is attempted. " To the accurate and realistic 

 representation of the home of the species is added a painting, 

 taken from nature, of its habitat, the real foreground being 

 connected with the painted background in such a manner 

 that one often does not at first see where the former ends 

 and the latter begins. The whole therefore gives an adequate 

 conception of the nature of the country Avhich the birds 

 inhabit, and the coiulitions mider which they live." 



The plan secuis to l)e excellent, and, though we have never 

 had the good fortune to see tiie " Habitat Bird-Groups," we 

 are told by those who have inspected them that the scheme 

 has been carried out in the most happy and efficient manner, 

 and that the "Hall" of Bird-Groups is a most attractive 

 sight. 



The " leaflet '' now before us contains a series of photo- 

 graphic reproductions of the '* Bird-Groups," some twenty or 

 more in number, while a map of North America" shews by 

 dots the exact localities represented in them. They are 

 distributed all over the Continent, from the Canadian 

 Kockies to Arizona on the west, and from the St. Lawrence 

 to the Bahamas on the east. Each picture has an explana- 

 tory sheet of letterpress attached to it, which contains the 

 chief particulars of the scene in popular language. 



While fully admitting the value and interest of Mr. 

 Chapman's work, we, nevertheless, venture a small criticism 

 on the name which he has given to it. "Habitat" is simply 

 the third person singular of the verb " habito" and means 

 " it dwells." Its frequent use as a substantive is, of course, 

 well known to every naturalist, but it is not grammatical 

 and its employment as a title in apposition to "Bird-Groups" 

 seems to us to form rather an unhappy combination. 



