94 



THE OOLOGIST. 



now jrenerally favored, namely of put- 

 ting the lowest forms first. The ar- 

 rangement of the fishes is essentially 

 that of Jordan and Gilbert's "Synopsis 

 of the Fishes of North America;" the 

 arrangemei^t of the Batraehians and 

 Reptiles is essentially that set forth in 

 the various papers of Prof. Edward D. 

 Cope; while in the nomenclature and 

 classification of the Birds, the author 

 adopts tlie "Check List of North Amer- 

 ican Birds," pul)lished hy the American 

 Ornithologists' Union. 



The work covering 375 pages with 

 index, euumei'ates 487 species of fishes, 

 4B species of batrachiaus, 9i5 of reptiles, 

 403 of birds and 117 of mammals. 



A fair idea of the plan of the woi-k 

 can best be given by quotations from 

 it. The following will give some idea: 



"Class E. Piscei^. Subclass Selachii. 

 (Jrder Eaiae (The Rays.) Family Pris- 

 lididae (The Saw-fishes.) Genus Pristis 

 (Latham) 24 P. peciifiatus Latham. 

 Saw-Fish. 



Saw with 25 to- 28 pairs of spines. 

 Length 10 feet. West Indies; occasion- 

 al N. (Lat., comb-toothed.)" 



"Class H. Aves. Order P(>f. (The 

 Woodpeckers and Wrynecks.) Family 

 Picidae (The Woodpeckers.) Genus 

 Colaptes (Swainson.) 852. C. auratus 

 (L.) Yellow-Hammer. Flicker. Gol- 

 den-winged W^oodpecker. High-Holder. 

 Head ashy, with red nuchal crescent; 

 back drab-color, barred with black; 

 rump white; below pinkish brown shad- 

 ing into yellowish; a black crescent on 

 breast; belly witli numerous round 

 black spots; shafts and under surfaces 

 of quills golden yellow; male with a 

 black maxillary patch. Length 12^. 

 Wing 6. Tail 4^. Eastern North 

 America, abundant." 



The student will at once see the value 

 of such a work. Speaking only of the 

 treatment given the class Aves, it is too 

 valuable a work for any ornithologist, 

 (experienced ov amateur) to be with- 

 out. One thing with which many bird 

 students all over the country are unfa- 

 miliar, is the cla.ssiticatiou of our birds. 

 Oftentimes, those who have an excel- 

 lent knowledge of ornithology (specific- 

 ally speaking) are lost when they come 

 to tell to what family or order a given 

 species belongs. 



The Avoik under consideration is just 

 what every bird student needs to over- 

 come these difficulties as well as to 

 readily identify any specimen of doubt- 

 ful identity. 



One thing that strikes us as almost 



marvelous, is the amount of knowledge 

 that is crowded into a small space. 

 1145 species are treated of thoroughly 

 and minutely, enabling anyone to 

 identify specimens readily therefrom, 

 and all inside of 375 pages. 



Everything is concise, sufficient, to 

 the point, and just what every student 

 of any of the forms of the Vertebrata 

 should have by him for reatly refer- 

 en(!e. 



Methods in the Art of Taxidermy. 



We desire to call the special attention 

 of the readers of The Oologist to Mr. 

 Oliver Davie's new work "Methods in 

 the Art of Taxidermy". 



Mr. Davie is well and favoraljly 

 known to American Ornithologists and 

 Oologists as a })ublisher that always 

 gives his patrons tmo hundred cents on it 

 dollar. 



The original i)lates for his new work 

 have cost him $1,000 in cash. We have 

 had the privilege of examining 40 of 

 them and must say that they alone 

 without text make the Art so plain that 

 if j'ou could see them we are certain 

 3'OU would quickly give $5.00 for duj)li- 

 cates. Mr. Davie has already devoted 

 six years of time and labor on this 

 work, and now to publish 500 copies as 

 he proposes will cost him $2,500 IN 

 CASH. Already he has received sub- 

 scriptions for 100 copies but before he 

 can publish the work he needs 400 

 more. We trust that he will find a 

 goodly portion of this number among 

 the readers of The Oologist. He asks 

 no money until the work is pul)lished. 

 Write him at once for subscription 

 blank properly fill the same and return 

 it to him by next mail. To any of our 

 readers avIio will write Mr. Davie for a 

 blank and pro])erly fill the same, stat- 

 ing to him that they subscribe for his 

 work, through the recommendation of 

 the publisher of The Oologist, we 

 will, if you are not more than pleased 

 with the work when published, give 

 yon $5.00 in cash for your copy and 

 present you with a years subscription 

 to The Oologist, for your trouble. 



We do not receive one cent from Mr. 

 D. for making this offer; for Avriting 

 this article; or for the two page adv. in 

 this Oologist, but make and publish 

 the same for the benefit of our patrons 

 that they too can aid Mr. D. in complet- 

 ing this valuable work, from which he 

 anticipates no financial reward. ^ 



