29O Recent Literature. [£uk 



if, as in the case of some of them, the principal hero is composite, the 

 facts are as observed, and to many, with Mr. Thompson's interpretation 

 of motive and purpose, these animals, whether bird or beast, will seem 

 more human in their intelligence, sympathies, and means of communi- 

 cation than is generally believed. In detailing " the real personality of 

 the individual " Mr. Thompson gives us an insight into the leal life of a 

 species which any amount of description of the ways of a species as a 

 species would never convey. ' Silverspot ' is a Crow, distinguishable 

 from other Crows by an albinistic mark on the side of the face, and the 

 history of this individual as a distinct personality is a most telling way 

 of placing before the reader the 'inner life,' so to speak, of the Crow 

 tribe in general. The same is true of ' Redruff ,' a Partridge of distin. 

 guished size and mean. In the lives of these 'dumb creatures' there 

 is something pathetically human, that appeals to the reader's sympathies, 

 and shows how much there is in man and beast that is shared in com- 

 mon. The marginal illustrations that cluster about the small type-bed 

 of the pages are as suggestive and appropriate as can well be imagined, 

 while the narrative is graphic, simple, and hence effective. In every 

 way the book is something out of the ordinary, and as pleasing as it is 

 original. — J. A. A. 



Stone on the Types of Birds in the Collection of the Academy of Nat- 

 ural Sciences of Philadelphia. — Under this title 1 Mr. Stone gives us a 

 very interesting historical sketch of the Ornithological Collection in 

 the Museum of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, — 

 perhaps still the most noted of any in this country, — followed by a 

 detailed descriptive account of the type specimens of the birds it contains, 

 arranged under the names of the authors of the species. In 1857, this 

 collection was regarded, by so eminent an authority on the subject as 

 Dr. Sclater, as the most perfect then in existence. As Mr. Stone has 

 already given the readers of 'The Auk' (April, 1S99, pp. 166-177) the 

 history of this collection, — how and whence it was gathered, and the 

 elements constituting its greatness, — which is more briefly and statistic- 

 ally presented again here, we need not dwell upon this phase of the 

 subject. 



In 1897 this collection contained 43.460 specimens, including the 

 types of about 350 species. Respecting the early American ornithologists, 

 it is of interest to note that these include types of two of Alexander 

 Wilson's species ; 5 of C. L. Bonaparte's; 8 of J. K. Townsend's; 8 of 

 Audubon's ; 3 of Nuttall's ; 9 of William Gambel's ; 1 of Edward Harris's 

 (the only species he described); 2 of George A. McCall's ; and 3 of Dr. 



1 A study of the Type Specimens of Birds in the Collection of the Academy 

 of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, with a brief History of the Collection. 

 By Witmer Stone. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1899, pp. 5-62. 



