■294 Recent Literature. Fjuly 



been equalled. We cannot but feel regret that so much has been com- 

 pressed into so little space, for this part of his work will appeal strongly 

 to many besides the novice. The latter will revel, or very likely flounder 

 in the keys which are certainly extremely ingenious ; still the inherent 

 disregard of birds for classification is not entirely overcome. It will 

 strike some that the measurements have been given with a superfluous 

 minuteness that will only tend to confuse the beginner. Why not tell 

 him the Phoebe is 7 inches long rather than '6.99'.' and the added or 

 subtracted hundredths of an inch here and there would have made the 

 keys look less like time-tables. Otherwise, the descriptive details, as far 

 as they go, are admirable and it is a pleasure to turn pages which are so 

 filled with morsels of useful information that we could wish for bigger 

 bites. Four illustrations by Mr. Fuertes and numerous appropriate wood- 

 cuts add life to the pages, which are neatly and clearly printed. Even the 

 cover is attractive and no one will begrudge the sooty Chimney Swift his 

 gilded body, for ever since in ' Citizen Bird' Dr. Coues and Mrs. Wright 

 perched him on the telegraph wires, we must expect some conventional 

 liberties to be taken with this ' spruce cone with wings.' It is to be hoped 

 Mr. Hoffmann's book will have the warm reception of which it is so 

 deserving, and he himself is to be congratulated on having employed his 

 pen to such good purpose. — J. D., Jr. 



Hornaday's 'The American Natural History.' ^ ^ This very useful 

 work is intended to bridge the "chasm that is wide and deep " between 

 "the ' scientific' zoology, suitable only for students in the higher colleges 

 and universities "and "the ' nature-study ' books of the grammar schools." 

 It is not a manual of the vertebrate zoology of North America, as it 

 attempts to treat only "about three hundred important and well chosen 

 species of animals," of which a number are exotic, selected to fill in 

 important gaps in the general sj'stem of vertebrate life. It is systematic 

 in arrangement, beginning with the highest class, or mammals, and 

 ending with the lampreys and lancelets. There is a general introduction 

 of about eight pages (pp. xix-xxv), explanatory of classification, nomen- 

 clature, and other technicalities, all very useful and pertinent, and 

 including a timely warning notice against the present tendency "to 

 idealize the higher animals, to ascribe to them intelligence and reasoning 



1 The American | Natural History | A Foundation of useful Knowledge 

 of I the Higher Animals of North America | By | William T. Hornaday | 

 Director of the New York Zoological Park; Author of | "Two Years in the 

 Jungle," etc. \ Illustrated by 227 original drawings by Beard, Rungius, | 

 Sawyer, and others, 116 photographs, chiefly by Sanborn, | Keller, and 

 Underwood, and numerous charts and maps | Charles Scribner's Sons | New 

 York, MCMIV — 8vo, pp. .xv -f 449, numerous full-page half-tones and text 

 cuts, including maps and charts. $3.50, postage extra. 



