16 



THE OSPREY. 



Uni-stai, RBSCUB of Young.— We give the 

 following account of rescue of a young bird by 

 its parents without endorsement. "It is impor- 

 tant if true."' We reproduce it from The Boston 

 Christian Register. Editors. 



During a high wind one day this summer a 

 young Oriole was thrown from its nest to the 

 ground. It was picked up by a kind hand, and 

 kepi in the house till the storm was over, and 

 then placed on the roof of the piazza. A watch 

 was kept behind the closed blinds of a window 

 near by to note proceeding's on the part of the 

 parent birds. They, in the meantime, had seen 

 the little one borne away, and had followed it to 

 the house, and, as it was kept near the open win- 

 dow, its cries had apprised them of its where- 

 abouts. They soon came to it on the roof and 

 hovered over it, doing' much talking and consult- 

 ing together. Finally, they alighted near the 

 little one, and the female slipped her wing' under 

 it and seemed to urge some course of action 

 upon the male, who fidgeted about, coming to 

 the little one, spreading his wings over it, then 

 flying to a tree, when the female followed him, 

 and brought him back, and again slipped a 

 wing under the little one. Finally, he seemed 

 to understand or to get his nerves under control, 

 and, slipping his own wing under, together they 

 made a sort of cradle for the birdling. And, 

 each flapping its free wing, they flew to the tree, 



bearing- it to a place of safety among- the 

 branches, where it was lost sight of. 



Eggs of the Common Guillemot and Ea- 

 zokbii.i, have been illustrated in the last volume 

 (xxxi) of the "Report and Transactions" of the 

 Cardiff Naturalists' Society, by Mr. R. Drane. 



Respecting the Murre or Guillemot the author 

 aptly remarks: "Probably there is greater varia- 

 tion in the eggs * * * than in those of any 

 other species," and 48 variations are, in 12 

 plates, "exactly reproduced by photography and 

 colour" so as "to present visibly to the reader 

 the widest possible range of difference in size, 

 form and colour". Three plates (1-3) are designed 

 to show the "extremes of colour"; four (4-7) "ex- 

 tremes of marking;" three (8-10 "average ex- 

 amples" and two (11-12) "extremes of size and 

 form". 



The Razorbill's eggs are represented by six- 

 teen specimens delineated on four plates (13-16). 



Mr. Drane remarks that the eggs of the Murre 

 or Guillemot and those of the Razorbill are often 

 so similar that "they might be confidently as- 

 signed to either the Guillemot or Razorbill," 

 but in the eggs of the latter "the blue ground 

 and vermicular marking's of those of the Guille- 

 mot are never found," and "though the Guille- 

 mot's egg may be occasionally ovoid, that of the 

 Razorbill is never pyriform". 



Literature. 



Bird Homes. The Nests Eggs and Breed- 

 ing Habits of the Land Birds Breeding in 

 the Eastern United States; with hints on 

 the rearing and photographing of young' birds. 

 By A. Radclyffe Dugmore. — Illustrated with 

 photographs from nature by the author. — New- 

 York: Doubleday & McClure Co. 1900. [Sm. 

 4to, xvix, 183 pp., 48 pis.] The author and pub- 

 lishers of Bird Homes have given us a very at- 

 tractive volume which will be a most acceptable 

 present for the holidays — or, for that matter, any 

 other time. 



The scope of the work is well described in its 

 title and more at length in the publishers' 

 notice. We cannot do better than to repro- 

 duce it. 



It "is a popular and intimate account of the 

 nests, eggs and breeding habits of the land birds 

 that nest in the Eastern United States. It is the 

 first time that this fascinating subject has been 

 adequately treated for the general reader, and 

 the book is a revelation of bird 'personality' in 

 many ways. Particularly notable are the illus- 

 trations, (in color, and black and white) all of 

 which were made directly from the nests and 

 birds by the author. The notes on bird photo- 

 graphy and on the rearing of young birds give 

 information not attainable elsewhere and of 

 great interest to nature-lovers and students." 



The subject matter is divided into two parts: 

 ill generalities, and l2l descriptions of nests. 

 These are considered under nine categories. 

 viz: 



1. Open nests on the ground, in open fields. 

 marshes, and generally open country. 



2. Open nests in woods, thickets, swampy 

 thickets. 



3. Covered or arched nests on ground. 



4. Open nests in marshes, reeds, saw-grass, 

 and low bushes in open country. 



5. Nests in buildings, bridges, walls, rocks, 

 banks, among roots, brush heaps, and holes in 

 the ground. 



6. Nests in holes in trees, stumps, or logs. 



7. Semi-pensile, pensile, or hanging nests. 



8. Open nests in trees, bushes, and vines. 



9. Nests saddled on branches. 



The numerous plates (48) are well repro- 

 duced and printed and a number (IS) are repre- 

 sented in colors by the process method that 

 has been applied so successfully by the same 

 publishers to Dr. Holland's fine work on But- 

 terflies. While most of the illustrations repre- 

 sent only the nests and eggs therein with their 

 surroundings, a few add the birds themselves, 

 generally setting on the nests. Four plates also 

 represent the eggs in "colour". (The old 

 English spelling is followed instead of the 

 ordinary American "color".) 



Ridgway's Monographs of North and Mid- 

 iu.k AMERICAN Birds. The first instalment of 

 this long promised work was completed by Mr. 

 Ridgway in September, and given to the Gov- 

 ernment Printing ( It'tice for publication. It is 

 devoted to the single family of Fringillidae, and 

 comprises descriptions of the 370 and more 

 species and subspecies found in the region in 

 question. A more detailed account of the work 

 will be given in a future number of the OSPREY. 



