THE OSPREY. 



47 



and nesting: of the more conspicuous species 

 noted. A wide margin (nearly the whole outer 

 half of the width of a pag-e) is left for the use 

 of each owner of the work. 



The author's notes will serve to call attention 

 to what may be observed or looked for and thus 

 similarities as well as contrasts may become 

 manifest. Undoubtedly there are man y to whom 

 such a volume will be of use. 



The Woodpeckers. By Fannie Hardy Eck- 

 st"i"in. With illustrations. Boston and New 

 York. Mifflin and Company. The River side 

 Press. Cambridge. 18 l w. [Square 12mo . 131 

 pp., ; pi. and text figures, si. on. J 



In this little book the author charmingly sums 

 up our knowledge of this small family, setting 

 forth the g 1 and evil characters of its mem- 

 bers and their most interesting life histo 

 and habits in so simple and pleasing a manner 

 free from all technicalities, that the in 

 amateur, and especially our boys and girls for 

 whom it is particularly intended, will he able to 

 digest its entire contents without the slightest 

 difficulty. We feel confident that the book will 

 accomplish its mission that of stimulating an 

 interest in our birds and natural history. 



The book consists of an interesting "Fore- 

 word: The Riddlers," followed by sixteen chap- 

 ters devoted to "How to Know a W Ipecker;" 



"How the Woodpecker catches a Grub;" "How 

 he courts his mate:" "How he makes a house;" 

 "How a Flicker feeds her young;" "Friend 

 Downey;" "Persona non Grata" which gives a 

 rather severe account of our pretty Yellow-bel- 

 lied Sapsucker);" "lil Carpintero" (a chapter 

 devoted to discussion ,,f the California Wood 

 pecker); "A Red-headed Cousin;" "A Study id' 

 aquired Habits." The next four chaptei ai 

 devoted to "The Woodpecker's Tools:" "His 

 Bill;" "His Ko..t:" "His Tail:" "His Tongue;" 

 ami these are followed by a general considers 

 tiott of "How each Woodpecker is fitted forhis 

 own kind of life, and lastly, by "An Argument 

 from Design," in which tin- author pleasingly 

 harmonizes the question of evolution with her 

 own religions feelings. The Appendix (113-27) 

 furnishes a key to and terse descriptions of the 

 43 recognized North American species and varie- 

 ties. The final pages (129-131) are devoted to 

 a sufficient idex. The live colored plates, por- 

 traying the Flicker, Downey, Yellow-bellied 

 Sapsucker, California Woodpecker and tin- Red 

 head are fairly good reproductions of pain 

 by L. A. Fuertes, while the twenty-one text 

 figures were produced by J. H. Ridgway. 



Lu-i and LETTERS of Thomas Henry Hrx- 

 LEY. By his son Leonard Huxle\. In two 

 volumes. Vol. I [-II]. New York. D. Apple- 

 ipany. 1900. [2 vols., viz: I. xix. 

 539 pp., 5 pi. : II, vii, 541 pp., 8 pi.] 



The life of the celebrated naturalist is related 

 in this w.nk by his sou. and is a very interest- 

 ing one. Born in 1825, Huxley was educated for 

 the medical profession, entered the naval set-vice 

 of his country, and for four years (1346-1850) 

 served on a surveying vessel (the Rattlesnake) 

 as surgeon and naturalist. The investigations 

 he o ei in',,, (a- 



tion of his later fame. His researches covered 

 almost every branch of zoology. 



The most fruitful of his studies of birds were 

 made in 1866, 1867 and 1868. From his letters, 

 however, we find that he gave instructions to 

 Herbert Spencer in 1860 on the physiology of 

 the air-cells (see p. 2301. A little later. 1861, he 

 was "at work on the chick's skull, part of the 

 embryological work which he took up vigorously 

 this time, and at once the continuation of his 

 researches on the Vertebrate Skull, embodied in 

 his Croonian lecture of 1858, and the beginning 

 of a long series of investigations into the struc- 

 ture of birds" ip. 244). 



The relation of Huxley's work to ornithology 

 at that tune and the characteristics of his work 

 have been explained in an address of the reviewer 

 on "Huxley and his work" and a section is here 

 repeated. 



< hie of the most persistent prejudices that has 

 influenced the progress of zoological taxonomy 

 has been (perhaps still is, a belief in the import- 

 ance of superficial adaptation of structure for 

 life in the water contradistinguished from life 

 on the laud. This prejudice was long- impressed 

 on ornithology. The birds witli feet adapted for 

 swimming by the development of webs between 

 the toes or for wading by elongation of the legs 

 were si apart from those fitted mainly for pro- 

 gress on I ami or through the air: in other words, 

 from those having negative characteristics in 

 such respects. The major subdivisions of those 

 groups, too, were almost solely distinguished by 

 superficial characters of little importance, such 

 as the form of the bill, the character of the claws, 

 and the combination of toes. Variations in such 

 trivial characters, which in other classes of 

 vertebrates would be esteemed of little syste- 

 matic value, were assigned ordinal rank. Com- 

 parative anatomy, t was almost entirely 



neglected in the classification of birds: even 

 most anatomists were content to limit their ob- 

 servations to simple irrelative details or to in- 

 terject them into the framework of existing 

 arrangements. Such was the state of orni- 

 thology in 1867 when Huxley published, in the 

 Proceedings of the Zoological Society of 

 London, a memoir "(in the classification of 

 birds, and on the taxonomic value of the modi- 

 fications of certain of the cranial bones obser- 

 vable in that class." In this he discarded the 

 characters generally used and allowed himself 

 to be influenced by the modifications to be found 

 in the skeleton without reference to the habits 

 or habitat of the birds. He reduced the orders 

 to three the Saururae (extinct), the Ratitas, and 

 the Carinatas. The last, including almost all 

 the living- forms, were divided into primary 

 groups defined by modifications of "the bones 

 which enter into the formation of the palate." 

 "Four different modes" were recognized and 

 were "called, respectively, the Dromcsognathous, 

 Schizognathous, Desmognaihous, and sEgilhog- 

 nalhous arrangement" (p. 425). It was urged 

 that "these cranial characters may safely be 

 taken as indications of natural affinities" ip. 

 454), and Huxley proposed "to regard these divi- 

 sions as suborders, and to name them Dromixog- 

 iiatlnc. Schizognathce, Desmognathce, and /Egi- 

 thotjnatluc" (p. 456). The last three suborders 



