Vol. XXXVII 



'1919" Recent Literature. 593 



RECENT LITERATURE. 



Bent's 'Life Histories of North American Diving Birds.' 1 — For 



almost ten years Mr Bent has been engaged in gathering materials for a 

 work on the life histories of North American birds, under the auspices of the 

 Smithsonian Institution. It was the general impression, and the author's 

 intention at the outset, that the splendid work that the late Major Bendire 

 left unfinished would be carried on to completion. It comes therefore as 

 a distinct surprise to those who were looking forward to another of the 

 portly quartos, on the lines of the two that Bendire published, to find in its 

 stead a modest octavo volume. 



Even a cursory examination of the work, however, demonstrates that 

 the change of plan was advisable. The smaller volume is much more 

 easily handled and therefore more practical and generally useful, while the 

 half-tone illustrations with which it abounds are better adapted to the 

 smaller size. Indeed, the only point in which the quarto volume had any 

 advantage was in portraying the eggs, which have, of course, to be of 

 natural size, and appear somewhat crowded on the smaller plates. Further- 

 more, as we compare the works of Bent and Bendire we realize at once that 

 the interval of twenty-five years that has passed since the last volume of 

 the latter appeared has made it desirable that the life histories there pre- 

 sented be rewritten, in the light of present-day information, so that an 

 entirely new work on a new plan is inevitable. 



As we read Mr. Bent's pages we fail to see how his plan could have been 

 improved upon. He divides his subject matter into two main sections, 

 ' Habits ' and 'Distribution,' the former with the subheadings: courtship, 

 nesting, eggs, young, plumage, food, behavior, winter, and an introduc- 

 tory paragraph that might well be termed habitat ; while under the second 

 heading come: breeding range, winter range, spring migration, fall migra- 

 tion, casual records, and egg dates. Mr. Bent has had the cooperation of 

 about 150 ornithologists in gathering the material upon which his life 

 histories are based, and he has not hesitated also to draw upon the most 

 reliable published accounts when first-hand information was not obtainable. 

 With the card index of the U. S. Biological Survey at his disposal he was 

 able to consult practically every work on North American birds, and due 

 credit is given for every quotation, but we should much prefer foot notes 

 to the method so common among university biologists, and which Mr. 

 Bent has adopted, of citing the year of publication after the author's name 

 and leaving the reader to find the rest in the bibliography at the end of the 



1 Life Histories of North American | Diving Birds | . Order Pygipodes. | By | Arthur 

 Cleveland Bent | of Taunton, Massachusetts. | Washington, | Government Printing Office. | 

 1919. I Smithsonian Institution. | United States National Museum. | Bulletin 107. | pp. 

 i-ix -f- 1-245, pll. 1-55. 



