January, 1892.J 



AND OOLOGIST. 



15 



any library. The copies sent here are not for 

 profit but simply to gain an entry into the 

 libraries of our American ornithologists. 



Mmy a diamond is hidden beneath a rough 

 crust, but how much better when we can see 

 the beauties without digging it out from be- 

 neath the rude exterior. Many worthy articles 

 are consigned to the waste basket by the re- 

 morseless editor, because their beauties are 

 hidden beneath uncouth wording, poor diction, 

 and worse punctuation ; and if said editor 

 happens to have a "sorehead" he will not 

 bother to pick out the diamonds from the 

 gravel which encumbers them. 



We have had handed to us a little book by 

 Kellogg & Reed on the English Language, 

 which would enable many of the parties from 

 whom emanate these encrusted gems to crack 

 off the crust and so often save the jewels. It 

 gives the various grammatical changes with 

 prefixes, suffixes and synonyms, in short con- 

 cise language. It cannot be learned in a day, 

 and new beauties develop with each examina- 

 tion. Published by Effingham, Maynard & Co., 

 X. Y. H. I. Smith, of Boston, is the Jsew Eng- 

 land representative of the firm. 



Naturalists are too prone, as a general thing, 

 to turn the study of nature into a matter-of- 

 fact channel, and dwelling more on tlie pecu- 

 liarities of their plumage and its variations 

 than upon their habits as seen by him who 

 goes into their homes and becomes one of their 

 brotherhood. 



About ten years ago Wilson Flagg got out a 

 book through a prominent Boston publislier, 

 on " A Year Avith the Birds," but it never 

 sold, although it was a good treatment of the 

 home-life of our feathered friends. It has 

 now been taken in hand by the Educational 

 Publishing Co.. and brought out as a text 

 book for school use. 



The author did his part passably well, for 

 although some of his remarks are not above 

 criticism he has made a very readable book. 



The publishers, however, have shown that 

 tiiey were not ornitliologists, or if they were, 

 tliey have not collated wisely, nor chosen well, 

 lor on page 38, among Birds ol' the Garden and 

 Orchard is shown a reproduction of an old 

 English cut of a group of Sparrows; very well, 

 but it is among descriptions of Vireos and birds 

 of tliat ilk, and not a word of our alien friend, 

 PuHner doDiesticus. He might well be admitted 

 here, although he does not fraternize well with 

 the Vireo, and through no fault of his; but our 



friend of the hanging nest loves better the 

 depths of the forest than the eternal chatter 

 of his English cousin. On page 63, commences 

 an excellent description of the habits of our 

 own Robin Redbreast, and is preceded by a 

 full-page illustration of what purports to be 

 the English Robin. Xow our bird is not a 

 Robin at all, but a Thrush, while the European 

 bird is nearer allied to our Wagtails, although 

 the illustration is nearer like a Wren. The 

 author has done a very commendable deed on 

 page 68, where he inveighs very strongly 

 against the metamorphosis of nomenclature. 



It may seem an odd subject to place before 

 a youthful archer, shooting for ideas, but it 

 does seem well to inculcate in the minds of 

 the young a firm contempt of the closet nat- 

 uralists who would give us a new list every 

 few years, each entirely dift'erent from the 

 others, until no one knows where he stands. 



That the author was a well read man is 

 easily seen, and he generally gives credit for 

 his extracts. On the whole, it is a very good 

 sort of a book for the youthful mind. [A Year 

 with the Birds. 12 mo., 317 pp. Illustrated. 

 Educational Publishing Co., Boston.] 



In our Xovember issue we noted the speedy 

 advent of a new work on Rifles by Mr. A. C. 

 Gould, which it was hoped would give to the 

 shooting public, information for which it has 

 long been hungering. How many sportsmen 

 or even working naturalists, were they called 

 upon suddenly to select a new rifle for per- 

 sonal use, at the beginning of an unexpected 

 trip to new grounds, would be able intelli- 

 gently to select an arm which they would be 

 able to use to their satisfaction in the days to 

 come ■? 



Ornithological collt3Ct(us, especially those 

 who take long trips, often find themselves in 

 positions where their shot-gun is, for the time 

 being, practically useless, as, for instance, 

 when lying on the edge of a cliff, with a beau- 

 tiful Glaucous Gull resting on the water just 

 out of the range of their gun, an i this sight 

 occurs day after day. " My kingdom for a 

 rifle ! " but alas, the bird is safe for all that 

 the collector is able to do, and he swears that 

 he will have a rifle as soon as he steps foot in 

 a gun-store. Wiien that delectable day comes 

 he is in a quandary as to what gun he shall 

 choose. He wants an arm that will carry and 

 kill, and he cannot encumber himself with a 

 pound more weight than is absolutely neces- 

 sary, and swaying between Scylla and Char- 

 1 ybdis of the various patterns he chooses at 



