September, 1S92 ] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



141 



THE 



ORNlTHOLOGIST^-f^OOLOGIST 



A MONTH [,Y MAGAZINE OF 



NATURAL HISTORY, 



ESPECIALLY DEVOTED TO THE STUDY OF 



BIRDS, 



THEIR NESTS AND EGGS, 



AND TO THE 



INTERESTS OF'NATURALISTS. 



Under the Editorial Management of 

 FRANK B. WEBSTER, . . . Hyde Park, Mass. 

 J. PARKER NORRIS, . . Philadelphia, Pa. 



PUDLI.SHED AT THE 



MUSEUM AND NATURALISTS' SUPPLY JtDEPOT 



OF THE 



FRANK BLAKE WEBSTER COMPANY, 



INCORPORATED, 



HYDE PARK, MASS. 



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

 If you fail to receive it, notify us. 



Captain Bendire's Life Histories of 

 North American Birds. 



The first portion of Captain Bendire's 

 long expected work has lately been issued,* 

 and it far surpasses the expectations that 

 have been raised concerning it. Captain 

 Bendire is the highest recognized author- 

 ity in this country as an oologist, and his 

 position in the National Museum, as Hon- 

 orary Curator of the department of Oology, 

 has afforded him unusual advantages which 

 he has embraced. 



For many years students have looked 

 forward to the publication of a work on 

 North American Oology which would be 

 commensurate with the importance of the 

 subject, and now that the first portion of 

 Captain Bendire's book has appeared it 

 has shown that it will fill this long felt 

 want. Not only has the work been espe- 

 cially desired, but no one else was so com- 

 petent to write it. 



In the introduction Captain Bendire 



*Life Histories of North American Birds with Special Ref- 

 erence to their Breeding Habits and Eggs, with Twelve Lith- 

 ographic Plates, by Charles Bendire, Captain, U. S. Army 

 (Retired), Honorary Curator of the Department of Oology, 

 N.S. National Musuem, Member of the American Ornitholo- 

 gist's Union. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1892. 



states that the work is based largely upon 

 the collections in the U. S. National Mus- 

 eum, but he has not hesitated to also avail 

 himself of the experience of many col- 

 lectors. 



The text is full and satisfactory, and 

 will be found to be of the greatest interest. 

 Another charm about the book is the sim- 

 ple and unpretentious manner in which it 

 is written. Captain Bendire's experience 

 in the field as a collector, especially in the 

 West, while stationed with the U. S. 

 Army, aftbrded him the amplest opportu- 

 nities for studying the breeding habits of 

 the birds of that locality, and his contri- 

 butions to their history are of the greatest 

 interest and value. 



Another very valuable feature of the 

 work are the copious extracts from the 

 manuscripts of R. Macfarlane, who knew 

 more about the nesting of birds in Alaska 

 than any other writer. 



The portion that has now been 

 published embraces the Gallinaceous 

 Birds ; family Tetraonidce^ Grouse, 

 Partridges, etc. ; family Phasianidce^ 

 Pheasants, etc. ; family Cracidce^ Curas- 

 sows and Guans ; Pigeons or Doves ; 

 family Cohimbidce, Pigeons, and Birds 

 OF Prey; {amWy Carikartidcc^ American 

 Vultures ; family Falco7iidce ^ Vultures, 

 Falcons, Hawks, Eagles, etc. ; family 

 Strigidce^ Barn Owls; i&.m\\y Biibonidce^ 

 Horned Owls, etc. 



Each species is separately and fully 

 treated, the details concerning their 

 nesting habits are very elaborate ; and the 

 descriptions of the eggs the best that have 

 ever been given. The propriety of giving 

 the measurements of the eggs in milli- 

 meters without giving their dimensions 

 in decimals of inches may well be ques- 

 tioned however, as so many writers prefer 

 the latter, and the reduction of milli- 

 meters to inches giving considerable 

 trouble and annoyance. 



The illustrations are very fine and en- 



