112 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 16-Nn. 7 



was a friend worth having, always i-eady to 

 hclji tlif beginner in oniilliolosy :in(l liis deatli 

 will brins sorrow to all that knew him. 



F. M. Draper. 

 (Uinton, Mass. 



New Publications. 



f)iir attiiiition has been called to a now or- 

 nithological work, Our C'nmmoa Binlx and 

 IIow to Know Them,, by John B. (irant, Charles 

 Seribner's Sons, an<l it is amazing to find that 

 such a work shoulil be offered by a reputable 

 book pidjlisher or dealer for sale. The writer 

 argues in the preface that this hook is intended 

 for herjinners in the study of ornithology, and 

 that it will relieve the student from " a serious 

 dilemma" by reason of his "dependence upon 

 books for guidance and his own untrained 

 observation." From our scrutiny, this book, 

 if he was in a dilemma before, will get him 

 into a more serious one. If Dr. J. A. Allen 

 was called upon for '-kindly advice" it would 

 seem strange that he did not suggest the filing 

 away of the manuscript for future reference 

 rather than its j)ublisliment. If he looked 

 over the manuscript he certainly ought to have 

 known that from the first plate and description 

 to the last of the sixty- four plates, there are not 

 over ten or a dozen that even an old and experi- 

 enced naturalist would dare to name from insjiec- 

 tion of them, and, as far as the descriptions are 

 concerned, they are on a par with the plates, 

 while the annotations are simply laughable, 

 particularly when the student is informed that 

 some of those described are "walkers"; al- 

 though we found no "junipers," "hoppers" 

 or "skippers," we fully expected to. The 

 author expresses his principal hope of aiding 

 the learner, and offers as his "chief excuse" 

 for the work he has indicted upon a gullible 

 and long-suffering people who buy books from 

 the title, particularly when they have the 

 stamp of a large and reputable publishing 

 house upon them, is the platen, taken from 

 photograph of specimens mounted by an 

 "expert taxidermist." The author ought to 

 make an abject apology to the public for such 

 humliugging pretence, for outside of some of 

 our puljlic musi'uras we have never seen such 

 a hodge-podge of execrable work dignified by 

 the name of taxidermy. We venture to say 

 that, as plates to represent anything that ever 

 wore feathers, such pot-bellied, broken-backed, 

 cock-eyed monstrosities, none such were ever 



seen in life, and the subjects look more as 

 though they were the work of v(U'y young 

 beginners and had been culled out of an ash 

 heap. Plate XLVIII, Black and Yellow War- 

 bler, resembles that bird about as much as an 

 oyster does an ostrich. The buyers of this 

 book will find themselves most decidedly 

 "taken in" if they expect anytliing worth 

 even the time taken to glance through. It is 

 simply valueless except as a sample of what 

 dangers lie in a smattering knowledge of a 

 subject supplemented with a great ileal of 

 self-sufficiency, as an instance of which the 

 author remarks that "naturalists have not 

 always been wise in the names they have 

 bestowed," yet soon after informs the gentle 

 and unsophisticated reader that he " has fre- 

 quently allowed himself to make use of those 

 which seem to him more familiar." There is 

 but one thing more for him to do, select a few 

 friends and declare themselves the only select 

 scientific American ornithologists, and imnnul- 

 iately revamp, expunge, alter and add such 

 nomenclature as may seem to them " more 

 familiar," he will then be in direct line of the 

 modern ideas of ornithological progress; but 

 before he can hope to succeed he must abjure 

 any thought of making more plain and inter- 

 esting the study, as that would be heresy; 

 all the education necessary is sim])ly that he 

 should be "profoundly .skilled in nnnlytic. 



Can calculate and rliviile, 



A hair (feather) twixt south and southwest side." 



Let him be careful to have his selectfew estab- 

 lished as the great ornithological lights, Iri/ vote 

 of themselves, .and if they are also cauti(uis to 

 carry their heads high, oblivious of anything 

 and everything except mutual admiration, 

 they may make enough believe that they alone 

 wear the pvuple of American ornithological 

 science, so that in time they will have quite a 

 tail to their l<ite. It is unnecessary to sjieak 

 of the typographical quality of the work, — the 

 tact that irrespective of the subject matter 

 nothing is spared liy the publisheis in wliat- 

 ever falls to them to do to make it all it siiould 

 be is too well known by the reading public. 



We can furnish drying ovens, api)aratus for 

 inrtating larvae, breeding ca-ges, etc., as 

 described in Ilirnaday's new work, at shori, 

 notice, also the new Hornaday skiiniing knile 

 for mammals and heavy work, skin scrapers, 

 nest stands, etc. See Ilornaday's new and 

 eUMfant work described im l)ack of cover. 



