100 



THE OSPREY. 



•ffiecent literature. 



Books mentioned below, and all other works for the 

 naturalist or {.'eneral reader, can be furnished by The 

 OsPREY Company at the publishers' regular price. 



^-V Manual of Xortli American Birds. By 

 Robert Ridg-wav. Illustrated by 446 outline 

 drawinf,'-s of the tleueric characters. Second 

 edition. Phila., J B. Lippencott Co., 1896. 

 Cloth or flexible leather, $7.50. 



/'^idgzvay's Manual is almost as familiar to 

 the student of North American birds as a stan- 

 dard dictionary is to a student of language. 

 The work was first published in 1887, and im- 

 mediately became a standard authority on our 

 birds, making a laew era of activity and inves- 

 tigation. This activity is shown by the fact 

 that no less than 91 new species and sub- 

 species have been added to the North American 

 fauna since 1887, and this in a field of limited 

 extent and already well studied. 



The plan of the work is too well kn<jwn to 

 need other than the briefest mention. It is 

 constructed on the plan of dichotomous anti- 

 thesis, now so familiar in manuals of botanj-; 

 that is, the student is constantly presented 

 with two alternatives and the character tested 

 must conform to one or another of these. This 

 is followed up until the specific characteriza- 

 tion is reached. 



As there appears to have been some misttn- 

 derstanding of the uses of the keys, the attthor 

 has given in the new edition a careful explana- 

 tion which makes their working plain. 



In the new edition many corrections have 

 been made in the meastirements of both birds 

 and eggs, and in the distribution of species as 

 a restilt of a practical use of the work. But 

 the main body of the work remains unchanged 

 in this edition, there being apparently no ma- 

 terial alteration tip to and including page 582. 

 The additions and corrections are combined in 

 the form of an appendix which fills 32 pages. 

 It would tinquestionably have been more coti- 

 venient for tisers of the book had this matter 

 been interpolated in the proper places through- 

 otit the volttme, btit doubtless the cost of re- 

 setting the entire work was a more important 

 consideration in the eyes of the publishers. 

 But this new matter can be readily found by a 

 series of marginal numbers that have l)een in- 

 serted in the bod^- of the work, and which cor- 

 respond to the numbered items in the appendix. 

 The index also has been entirely recast, and 

 can be relied upon to further locate all interpo- 

 lated matter. 



It will perhaps be of interest to indicate a 

 few of the more important changes and addi- 

 tions made in this edition. Thus, two new 

 genera recognized are named: Arrenionops, 

 ccjntaining several species of Mexican and Cen- 

 tral American Sparrows, the type being Ii))iher- 

 naora rufiviri^ata Lawr., and Orcosipiza. of 

 which the type and only species is the common 

 Western Green-tail-ed Towhee. Pipilo chlornrus. 

 No actually new .species, and but one new sub- 

 species (Cardinalis cardinalis yucafaniciis) has 

 been established. F. H. Knowi.ton. 



Chicago Academy of Sciences. 



The regular meeting of the Ornithological 

 Section of the Chicago Academy of .'Scienceti 

 was held in the oftice of Mr J. G. Parker, Jr., 

 and was well attended 



The papers of the evening were by Mr. Vir- 

 ginius H. Chase, of Wady Petra, 111., and by 

 Mr. John F. Ferry: of Lake Forrest, 111., en- 

 titled, "Bird Nest Analysis," and "A Collect- 

 ing Trip to California," respectively. In the 

 absence of the writers the papers were read by 

 Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr. 



F. M. WooDKiFF, Sec'v. 



Michigan Ornithological Club, 



P'ebruary 12, 1897, the second meeting (jf the 

 Club was held at the house of the Secretary, in 

 Grand Rapids. 



After a business session in which seven new 

 members were elected, the following papers 

 were read and discussed: 



"The Pied-billed Grebe, Podihniibus podi- 

 ccps,"' by Mr. W. A. Davidson, Detroit. Mr. 

 Davidson gave a very interesting account of 

 the nesting habits of this bird. The parent 

 bird is ver^- shy, and has never been seen, bj' 

 him on the nest. At one time, upon catching 

 two 3'oung birds that had jtist left the nest, he 

 tried to get them to "dive backwards," which 

 it is often said they will do; but they persisted 

 in going "head first." 



The second paper, concerning the "Birds of 

 Michigan," was written b\' Mr. Norman A. 

 Wood, of Ann Arbor. The author showed how 

 much the stttd)' of ornithology in our State 

 lacked of being completed. Mtich more is to be 

 learned by sttidying the habits of our birds 

 than by merely noting their arrival, departure, 

 etc., althottgh, of course, this is of much im- 

 portatice. There is still a great deal to be 

 learned abottt even our commonest species. 



The concltiding paper was by Mr. A. B. 

 Dttrfee. of Grand Rapids, and was entitled, 

 "Nesting Habits of the House Wren." Mr. 

 Durfee gave man}' interesting accounts of 

 curious nests and tiesting places of this species, 

 one of the most striking of which was a nest in 

 a nearU' tised ball of twine which had been 

 ttsed from the middle, thus leaving the ball 

 hollow. Leon J. Cole, Secretarj'. 



An American Robin was recently taken near 

 Manchester, England. 



Publisher's Notes, 



Thk O.spkhv office is now situated in the 

 Adams, Johnson & Scholl Company Btiilding, 

 61 to 71 North Prairie street. 



A few words by one of otir friends will often 

 obtain tis a new subscription from a person we 

 are tmable to reach with a sample. 



Though Thk O.'^pkev is now covered by a 

 copyright, permission will be freely given to 

 republish matter from its pages. Contributors 

 need not consider copyright as covering their 

 respective matter. 



Many requests for the September and Novem- 

 ber ntimbers — some oifering 25 or 50 cents each — 

 lead txs to say that no copies of these issues re- 

 main in stock. We have a few of other issues 

 which may be included iti sttbscriptions while 

 they last." 



