Bullciin No. 26. 47 



of whatever that new country has to offer in bird life for the Bulletin. 

 We envy him the field with its new fauna and flora, its mountain fast- 

 nesses, distant horizon and clear atmosphere. But there are still 

 years to come.- We shall see that pastorial work and the study of birds 

 are entirely compatible in this new region. 



PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. 



'J'he Birds of Indiana. By Amos W. Butler. A Descriptive Cata- 

 logue of the Birds that have been observed within the State, with an 

 account of their habits. 



The Introductory part of this sumptuous catalogue of 672 pages, dis- 

 cusses the reasons for its appearance, the sources from which the infor- 

 mation which it contains has been drawn, followed by "The Indiana 

 Bird Law," "Position of Boundary" [of the state], "Elevation," 

 "Physiographic Regions," "Drainage," "Physiographic Features," 

 "Peculiarities Affecting Bird Distribution," "Changes in Bird Life," 

 "Destruction of Birds." " Zoological Areas," " Bird Migration," and 

 finally an extensive "Bibliography of Indiana Ornithology." The 

 systematic part of the work then begins with a key to the orders, 

 followed by a key to the families under the orders, which, as the author 

 states, are taken from Robert Ridgway's Manual of North American 

 Birds. The addition of references to the pages where the orders and 

 families are treated in detail would add to the usefulness of these keys 

 without making them more complicated. The illustrations are largely 

 taken from Coues' Key to North American Birds, and from the publica- 

 tions of the U. S. Agricultural Department. 



The author's treatment of the individual species is consistent thruout, 

 enabling one to turn at once to any desired part of the discussion of the 

 species without waste of time. The specific references to the different 

 counties in which the species occurs, and its mode of occurrence if it be 

 a rare or unusual species, is a step in the right direction. It does not 

 cumber the book with useless matter for any reader because the descrip- 

 tive matter precedes it. Any catalogue of the birds of any state would 

 be incomplete without at least mention of any differences in habits in 

 different parts of that state. 



The catalogue was not designed to serve as a text-book, but rather as 

 a work of ready reference for the farmer and the gardner or fruit grower. 

 To him who is interested in local and state lists a summary at the end of 



