Vol 'i9i9 XVI ] Recent Literature. 119 



RECENT LITERATURE. 



Beebe's Monograph of the Pheasants. 1 — Birds, from their gorgeous 

 plumage, pleasing song and varied habits, possess an interest quite apart 

 from the purely technical consideration of their structure and systematic 

 relationship, subjects which in the lower orders of the animal kingdom 

 cover practically the whole range of possibility in their study; and orni- 

 thology, fortunate in having such beings as its especial province, possesses 

 in consequence a far broader literature than many of the other branches 

 of zoological science can boast. 



From the earliest days bird study has attracted, in addition to the tech- 

 nical ornithologist, men gifted with both literary and artistic talents, 

 with the result that we are able to point with pride to a long series of 

 splendid works of art and narratives of surpassing interest as a part of the 

 literature of our favorite science. To those who have handled the great 

 monographs of Gould, Elliot, Sharpe and others or the earlier classics of 

 Catesby, Wilson and Audubon, there is the inevitable feeling that this 

 phase of ornithological activity should not be allowed to perish, and hence 

 we hail with especial delight any present-day contribution to this field. 



Probably no other work of this sort has been looked forward to with 

 greater anticipation than Capt. William Beebe's 'Monograph of the 

 Pheasants,' the first volume of which is now before us, and to say that it 

 fully meets our most sanguine expectations is but inadequate praise. A 

 sumptuous royal quarto, 12 x 16 in., beautifully printed on special rag 

 paper, with splendid colored plates by six of the leading bird artists of the 

 world — reproduced with wonderful beauty and accuracy, photogravures 

 of the haunts of the various species and a text of exceptionally high quahty 

 — all go to form a work of art and a literary production well worthy of 

 the twentieth century. Beside the illustrations already referred to we 

 must mention the colored plates which show the successive plumages, of 

 one species in nearly every genus, from the natal down to the adult, and 

 others depicting the eggs. 



Much as we are indebted to Capt. Beebe and his corps of artists, through 

 whose ability and talents this splendid work has been produced, back of it 

 all our thanks are due to the generosity of Col. Anthony R. Kuser, of 



1 A Monograph of the | Pheasants | By [William Beebe | Curator of Birds of the New York 

 Zoological Park; Fellow of the New York Zoological | Society and Director of the Tropical 

 Research Station in British Guiana; Fellow | of the American Ornithologists' Union and of 

 the New York Academy | of Sciences; Member of the British Ornithologists' Union; I Cor- 

 responding Member of the Zoological | Society of London, etc. | In four Volumes | Volume I 

 Published under the auspices of the | New York Zoological Society by | Witherby & Co. 

 326 High Holborn, London, England | 1918 | Royal Quarto (12 X 16 in.) pp. i-xlix - 

 1-198, 19 colored plates, 16 photogravures and 5 maps. Edition limited to 600 copies; 

 price of each volume $62.50. 



