124 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 17-N0. 8 



THE 



ORNITHOLOGISTr^^OOLOGIST 



A MONTHLY MAGAZINE f)K 



NATURAL HISTORY, 



ESPECIALLY DEVOTED TO TlIK SI mv OF 



BIRDS, 



THEIR NESTS AND EGGS, 



AND TO THE 



INTERESTS OF NATURALISTS. 



Under the Editorial Management of 

 FRANK B. WEBSTER, . . . Hyde Park. AFass. 

 J. PARKER NORRIS, 



Philadelphia, Pa. 



rrni.isiiED at the 

 MUSEUM AND NATURALISTS' SUPPLY DEPOT 



OF THE 



FRANK BLAKE WEBSTER COiMPANY, 



INCORPORATED, 



HYDE PARK, MASS. 



The O. & O. is mailed each issue to every paid subscriber. 

 If you fail to receive it, notify us. 



Montague Chamberlain's New "Work. 



In the November issue a brief allusion 

 was made to a new edition of Nuttall's 

 Ornithology by Montague Chamberlain. 

 In his introduction the author states that 

 this work is practically an edition of "A 

 Manual of the Ornithology of the United 

 States and of Canada," written by Thomas 

 NuTTALL, though only as much of the 

 original title has been retained as seemed 

 consistent with the changed character of the 

 text. He has taken Nuttall's biographies 

 and inserted notes relating to the facts of 

 distributions and habits that have been 

 acquired by our ornithologists, also re- 

 written the description of plumage in a 

 manner that can be readily understood by 

 all. A description of the eggs of each 

 species has also been added. 



The nomenclature adopted is that of 

 the " Check-List" of the A. O. U. The 

 sequence of species is that arranged by 

 Nuttall. A careful perusal of the work 

 shows that the plan has been to present in 

 the most comprehensive manner a con- 

 densed description, such as is required by 

 students, both old and young. 



The author some time since promised a 

 number of his Canadian friends that he 

 would prepare a work on Canadian birds, 

 and has kept the promise by giving in this 

 edition an account of every species that 

 has been foiDid within the Dominion 

 east of Manitoba plains^ together with 

 their Caiiadia)i distribution. This can- 

 not fail to make it a leading work in the 

 estimation of our Canadian friends. 



Referring to the Study of Bird Life we 

 quote the author: " If this science (clas- 

 sification) has advanced far beyond Nut- 

 tall's work, the study of bird life, the real 

 history of our birds, remains just about 

 where .Nuttall and his contemporaries left 

 it. The present generation of working 

 ornithologists have been too busy in hunt- 

 ing up new species and in variety-making 

 to study the habits of birds with equal 

 care and diligence, and it is to Wilson, 

 Audubon and Nuttall that we are in- 

 debted, even to this day, for what we 

 know of bird life." In this one sentence 

 Mr. Chamberlain strikes the key-note, 

 which should furnish 'food for much re- 

 flection. 



The work is well illustrated, the cuts 

 being useful ones and such as are recog- 

 nized at a glance, many of them being 

 from drawings by Mr. Ernest E. Thomp- 

 son of Toronto. 



Mr. Chamberlain is well known to our 

 readers as one of the leading ornithologists 

 of the day, one whose name does not ap- 

 pear as often as some others ; but when 

 it does, it carries with it a weight such as 

 can only originate from one who is a care- 

 ful student, who speaks from an hon- 

 est conviction and is broad in principle. 



He is the author of several ornithologi- 

 cal publications of importance. The work 

 is from the press of Little, Brown & Co., 

 Boston, well-known as the publishers of 

 "The History of North American Birds," 

 by Baird, Brewer & Ridgway. 



No comment is necessary. We earn- 



