86 Pecent Literature. sake 
and is followed (pp. xxv—-xl) by a historical résumé of ‘The Art of Fowl- 
ing’ In the main body of the work (pp. 1-502) the subject matter is 
arranged systematically, beginning with the Corvide and ending with 
the Apterygide. 
The art of fowling dates from the highest antiquity, its origin being 
prehistoric, and is as characteristic of barbarous tribes in remote islands 
and inactessible regions as of civilized nations. The means vary with 
the species of bird it is desired to capture, both among wild tribes and 
in civilized countries. For the most part, however, fowling is a thing 
of the past; while it flourished in Europe in early times and is still 
practiced here and there as an amusement or for profit, ‘‘the Italians 
appear to be almost the only European people who still regard the 
resources of fowling as affording a prime amusement, to be enjoyed by 
all classes as opportunity permits.” Among the more important devices 
employed are traps and snares, in great variety, and bird lime and nets, 
also of various kinds. Mr. Macpherson has brought together a vast 
amount of curious and interesting information, relating to almost all 
countries and peoples, and to all classes of birds from Larks and Spar- 
rows to Water Fowl and Ostriches. His pages are also enriched with 
abundant illustrations, showing the nature and use of the multifarious 
devices employed for entrapping wild birds. Many of these are repro- 
ductions from old works on fowling, but many are after original designs, 
prepared especially for the present volume. A wide field is here well 
covered, the author haying bestowed upon his task much time anda 
vast amount of careful research.—J. A. A.! 
Mrs. Wright’s ‘Wabeno, the Magician.*— This is another of Mrs. 
Wright’s admirable nature books for the young, in which the phenomena 
of nature, both animate and inanimate, are explained in the delightfully 
informal and seductive way so characteristic of the author of ‘Tommy- 
Anne, of which deservedly popular work this is the happy sequel. 
While treating of nature in a broad sense, it is rather more than inciden- 
tally ornithological, the birds, the beasts, the insects, and the plants, and 
the forces of nature receiving about equal attention. —J. A. A. 
1This work was received in November, 1897, but by accident was mislaid 
and overlooked for two years, which explains the much regretted lateness of 
this notice. 
2 Wabeno the Magician. | The Sequel to | “Tommy-Anne and the Three 
Hearts” | By | Mabel Osgood Wright | Author of ‘‘ Birdcraft,” ‘The 
Friendship of Nature” | etc., etc. | Illustrated | by Joseph M. Gleeson | New 
York | The Macmillan Company | London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd. 1899. 
All rights reserved. — 8vo, pp. xi+346. $1.50. 
