THE MUSEUM. 



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We take pleasure in acknowledging 

 to the U. S. National Museum the re- 

 ceipt of Vol. II of T/w Histories of 

 North American Birds, by Capt. 

 Chas. Bendire, Hon. Curator of the 

 Department of Oology. This volume 

 commences with the Paroquets No. 382 

 A. O. U. and covers all species to No. 

 513: Boat-tail Crackle. It is illustrat- 

 ed by seven full page plates, figuring 

 1 1 I kinds of eggs and in many cases 

 showing three to five illustrations of 

 the same species, covering range of 

 size and coloration. Like all govern- 

 ment publications the topographical 

 work is unsurpassed. The colored 

 plates true to nature. One can, with 

 this work get an accurate knewledge 

 of the sizes and colors of eggs. We 

 were specially interested in the illus- 

 trations of some species that are very 

 rare in collections, as Carolina Paro- 

 quet, Derby and Grauds Flycatcher, 

 Poor-will, Vaux Swift, Sulphur-bellied 

 Flycatcher, Nutting Flycatcher, Olive- 

 sided and Coues' Flycatcher, Labrador 

 and Pinon Jay, Clarke's Nutcracker, 

 Northern Raven, the rarer Horned 

 Larks, Scott's Oriole, Rusty Black- 

 bird, etc. The last species has been 

 abundantly abused in collections; very 

 few being able to boast of genuine 

 eggs. All the sets we have ever seen 

 are distinct from any Crackle or Black- 



bird. While looking at a large collec- 

 tion recently, numbering 17,000 eggs 

 and nearly 600 species, we noticed 

 several clutches of other birds eggs- 

 doing duty for Rusty 's. While we 

 have not had time to peruse the text 

 of this volume, from a hasty review 

 we can say it is the most complete 

 work up to date. It is really the 

 "Life History" of every specie treat- 

 ed. We remember with pleasure a 

 visit of several days, two years ago, 

 with the Captain, when he showed us 

 through every one of the drawers 

 which held the 35,000 eggs of the U. 

 S. N. M. They had at that time re- 

 ceived part of the beautiful Ralph 

 collection of Utica, N. Y. We say 

 "beautiful," for every set was a "thing 

 of beauty," so finely prepared — eggs 

 from size of a Hummer to a Robin 

 blown through a hole no larger .than if 

 made with the point of a pin. Large 

 eggs with holes about the size we usu- 

 ally see in Sparrows and so on. We 

 also remember perusing some of the 

 finest English, French and German 

 colored works on eggs, none of which 

 were to be compared with our own 

 already famous "Life Histories." We 

 were shown proof-sheets of some of 

 the plates of Vol. I, eighteen impres- 

 sions being necessary to produce some 

 of the fine coloring on the Hawk, 

 Grouse and Ptarmigan eggs. 



We close with the hope that Vol. II 

 may be a source of as much honor to 

 the painstaking work of Capt. Bendire 

 as Vol. I has been, and that he may 

 be spared many years among us. 



Among the Rockies. 



M. J. ELROD. 

 VI. 



The wonders of Yellowstone Nation- 

 al Park cannot be told in words. Pic- 

 tures cannot express the beauties of its 

 scenery. There is so much reduction^ 

 the colors are lost, the clear atmos- 

 phere is not felt, nor does the soft 

 murmur of pines or gurgle of geyser 



