December 

shall be done: and there is no new thing under 
the sun.’’ 
While it is true that the chief pleasure of 
field ornithology is derived from personal re- 
search, yet, for the wise direction of one’s ef- 
forts, and for information on such points as fail 
to come within his own observation, a hand- 
book is indispensable. Investigation in this 
science has been more thorough in the eastern 
part of the United States than elsewhere in 
America, and there are several reference-books, 
reliable and interestingly written, regarding the 
birds to be found in New England and the 
Eastern and Middle States. A thorough stu- 
dent desires to consult various authorities, but 
a single good work will ordinarily suffice. 
Expense and completeness taken into ac- 
count, the best hand-book for the land-birds of 
the Northeastern States is Minot’s ‘‘ Land and 
Game Birds of New England ’”’ (Estes & Lau- 
riat). This really suffices for a much larger area 
than New England, for the species that summer 
only in the extreme Northern States are seen as 
migrants in more southerly latitudes, and there 
are few that summer in the Middle Atlantic 
327 
