56 JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL .SOCIETY. 



Recent Literature. 



*NoTES ON New England Birds, by Henry D. Tiioreau. 

 — "Scattered through fourteen volumes of Thoreau's journals," 

 says the editor, "are many interesting notes on the natural history 

 of New England, and a large proportion of these relate to birds." 

 And further, "it will perhaps be a matter of surprise to many read- 

 ers to learn how much Thoreau wrote upon this one branch of 

 natural history, and how many species of birds he found something 

 to say about that was worth the saying. Thoreau was seldom dull, 

 even in mere records of commonplace facts, and the reader of this 

 book, though he may be well acquainted with the author's pictur- 

 esque style, can hardly fail to be impressed anew with his power to 

 convey a vivid and interesting picture in a few words." 



The truth of this is amply borne out in the ensuing four hun- 

 dred and forty-one pages, grouped into twenty-three chapters, each 

 chapter dealing with certain groups of birds : For example, chap- 

 ter I, Diving Birds ; Chapter III, Ducks and Geese ; Chapter XX, 

 Creepers, Nuthatches, Tits and Kinglets ; XXII, General and Mis- 

 cellaneous ; XXIII, Domestic Birds. The chapters are arranged 

 with reference to the current system of classification of North Ameri- 

 can birds, and each species is taken up in the same order, while the 

 notes relating to it are treated chronologically. 



In a hasty survey of the pages none but well-known birds are 

 noticed, nevertheless, at any point the reader may open the book, 

 he finds fascinating records of observations, described with telling 

 simplicity and clearness, and when words fail to emphasize the 

 points of interest, rough off-hand sketches are brought to bear. 



This book occupies a unique position in the ornithological 

 literature of this country. It is the product of the man of leisure 

 and of an independent point of view ; the disciple of no school, nor 



*Arrange(l and edited by Francis H. Allen, with illustrations from photo- 

 graphs of birds in nature. |1.75 net. Boston and New York, Houghton, 

 Mifflin Co. Pages v-ix, 1-441, with map of Concord region and index thereto, 

 appendix of index to passages relating to birds in Thoreau's works exclusive of 

 the journal, pages 443-445 and general index. 



