2^oofe ji^etMJ^ anb lltetiietos; 



Birds of New York. By Elon Howard 

 Eaton. New York State Museum, 

 Memoir 12, Part II. Introductory 

 Chapters: Birds of Prey to Thrushes. 

 Albany, University of the State of New 

 York, 1914. 4to text, pages 1-543; 

 plates. 43-106. 



With the appearance of the second and 

 concluding volume of Mr. Eaton's mono- 

 graph, the state of New York may justly 

 claim to have produced the best and most 

 elaborate memoir of its kind which has 

 thus far been published. In a word, this 

 volume is a worthy successor of the one 

 which preceded it (see a review in Bird- 

 Lore, 1910, p. 118). Higher praise than 

 that cannot be asked. 



The biographical section begins with 

 the Birds of Prey, on page 61, and, fol- 

 lowing the order of the American Ornithol- 

 ogists' Union's 'Check-List,' ends with 

 the Thrushes, on page 541. The method 

 of treatments conforms with that of 

 Volume I and includes some synonyms, the 

 derivations of the scientific name, descrip- 

 tions of plumage, and detailed considera- 

 tion of 'Distribution' and 'Haunts and 

 Habits.' This authoritative matter is 

 prefaced by a thoughtful and suggestive 

 section on 'Bird Ecology,' which has a 

 practical bearing on current questions of 

 bird conservation. The causes governing 

 the comparative numbers of birds under 

 natural conditions, and the factors which 

 tend toward their increase or decrease, 

 are here presented at some length. The 

 opinions advanced are the mature views 

 of a trained biologist, as well as experi- 

 enced bird student, and this introduction 

 of some 50 pages forms an original and 

 valuable contribution to a subject which, 

 as our population grows, will become 

 increasingly important. 



The 64 plates, figuring all the species 

 of regular occurrence in the groups treated, 

 are wholly admirable bird portraits by 

 an artist whose sympathy with his sub- 

 ject is equaled only by his rare ability to 



give form to his impressions. It is most 

 gratifying to know that the originals of 

 the 106 plates which form Mr. Fuertes' 

 share of this great work have been pur- 

 chased by Mrs. Russell Sage, and pre- 

 sented by her to the State of New York. — 

 F. M. C. 



Die Tierwelt der Schweiz in der 

 Gegenwart und in der Vergan- 

 GENHEiT. Von Dr. Emil August 

 Goldi, Professor der Zoologie an der 

 Universitat Bern. Band I: Wirbeltiere. 

 Mit 2 Karten und 5 farbigen Tafeln. 

 Bern-Verlag von A. Francke-1914. 

 Pages, 654-XVI. 



This first volume of 'The Animal World 

 of Switzerland' deals with the Verte- 

 brates. The first part (171 pp.) treats 

 of the fossil fauna, and has long tables 

 showing the different periods of the earth's 

 history and the forms of life occurring in 

 each, with especial reference to Switzer- 

 land. In the second part, the Swiss mam- 

 mals, birds, reptiles, batrachians and 

 fishes are taken up in turn, with a final 

 chapter on the hunting and fishing. 



There are a few rather statistical pages 

 on the number and composition of the 

 Swiss avifauna, which consists of about 

 360 forms (out of the 660 known from 

 Europe), of which 75 are permanent 

 residents, 107 summer residents, 70 

 transients, 36 winter visitors, 18 summer 

 visitors, and 55 irregular. A tabular list 

 (following, unfortunately, the archaic 

 Raptores-Natatores classification) shows 

 at a glance to which of these groups any 

 species belongs, and gives the German 

 names, British Museum Catalogue and 

 Sharpe's 'Handlist' names, and synonomy 

 in the works of Fatio and Studer. Nearly 

 a hundred pages are then devoted to a 

 cursorial treatment of the Swiss birds, 

 still following this classiiication. The bird 

 chapter ends with a twenty-page article on 

 the migration in Switzerland, with a map 

 showing the major and minor routes. 



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