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Recent Literature. I April 



very fully and correctly indicates its general character — a copiously illus- 

 trated, scientifically trustworthy popular manual of the birds of Ohio, 

 with analytical keys, and colored figures of eighty species. The scope of 

 the work "is strictly Ohioan," and the birds are described "as any one in 

 Ohio might see them," although something is generally said of their 

 habits and range as found outside of Ohio. The nomenclature is that 

 of the A. O. U. Check-List and its supplements, down to the last of the 

 series, but the order of sequence is reversed, the P.asseres, and of these 

 the Raven, being placed at the head of the list and the Loons at the end. 

 The number of species authentically recorded for the State, and hence 

 here formally treated, is 320; descriptions are given of 13 others, 

 "believed to occur or to have occurred in Ohio," forming a ' hypothetical 

 list'; which is followed by a "conjectural list " of 13 more, reported from 

 adjacent States and supposed, with good reason, to occur "at least casu- 

 ally-" Many of these will doubtless be added, sooner or later, to the 

 birds of the State on the evidence of actual capture within its borders. 



Following the author's preface and the introduction are the analytical 

 kevs, prepared by Professor Lynds Jones, of the orders, families and 

 species, occupying pp. xxiii to xlv. The main text gives a short descrip- 

 tion, in small type, of each species, including its nest and eggs, and its 

 range, both within and outside of the State, and, in larger type, a short, 

 ■well prepared biographical account, having special reference to the spe- 

 cies as a bird of Ohio. The volume closes with three appendices, the first 

 two of which consist respectively of the ' hypothetical ' and ' conjectural ' 

 lists already mentioned, while the third, ' Appendix C ' (pp. 647-660), gives 

 migration tables "for the approximate latitudes of Cincinnati, Columbus 

 and Cleveland." These are arranged in the order of the A. O. U. Check- 

 List, and are based partly on the author's own observations and partly on 

 those of other well known observers, as Henninger, Jones, Wheaton, and 

 Mosely, as duly explained. There is also a good index. 



As regards plan, literary execution, typography and general make-up, 

 Dawson's ' The Birds of Ohio ' is an exceptionally attractive volume and 

 is entitled to high praise as a trustworthy popular manual of the birds 

 of the region to which it relates. There is, however, one disappointing 

 feature, and that is the character of the colored plates, for which the three- 

 color process is not wholly to blame. When we state that they are a selec- 

 tion of eighty of the best of a series of some two hundred or more that 

 were available, and that this series was originally published in a Chicago 

 bird magazine, variously known at different times as 'Birds,' 'Birds and 

 Nature,' etc., and also already used elsewhere as book illustrations, most 

 bird students will be sutficiently aware of their character without further 

 comment. While the greater part, and perhaps all, of those used in the 

 present volume are sufficiently approximate to nature to be serviceable as 

 an aid in identifying the species represented, very few of them are pleas- 

 ing, owing mainl}' to the bad mounting of the specimens selected for 

 photographing. Such illustrations may be accepted as perhaps much 



