282 Recent Literature. Yy^ 



her views and quote or compile Avith more discrimination, we feel sure 

 she would readily admit. 



The illustrations have been "adapted and grouped from Audubon's 

 ' Birds of America,' Dr. Warren's ' Birds of Pennsylvania,' DeKay's ' Orni- 

 thology of the State of New York,' and . . . Fisher's ' Hawks and Owls 

 of the United States.' " We wish we could say that they are worthy the 

 text. The colored plates show that the process by which they were repro- 

 duced is not available for the purposes of ornithological illustration. The 

 half-tone black and whites are excellent when they are from good orig- 

 inals, as for example, Fisher's 'Hawks and Owls'; others are from DeKay 

 and there seems to us no excuse for using these effigies at this late 

 day. We all know, however, that publishers rarely look at this matter 

 from the author's standpoint, and we can wish Mrs. Wright's book no bet- 

 ter fortune than that in the future editions it is sure to reach, it may have 

 illustrations in keeping with the exceptionally high character of the text 

 — F. M. C. 



Chapman's ' Handbook of Birds of Eastern North America."' — Falling 

 on a time of growing popular interest in our native birds, this volume 

 which, in its fullest sense, justifies the title of ' Handbook,' is marked 

 for a career of extended usefulness. 



The region covered by the work — North America east, say, of the 

 meridian of the Mississippi River — although not co-terminous with any 

 natural faunal tract, forms, nevertheless, a convenient and sufficiently 

 definite geographical field. The more formal treatises on North American 

 ornithology, which cover the region by inclusion, were not designed to 

 slip into easy use outside of a specially interested class. Therefore, the 

 considerable compan\- of interested but not-too-devoted bird-lovers is to 

 be especially congratulated on the appearance of this work. 



"I have not addressed an imaginary' audience, nor have I given my 

 prospective readers what, theoretically, I thought they ought to have, but 

 what personal experience with students of birds has led me to believe 



' Handbook of Birds | of Eastern North America | with Keys to the 

 Species | and Descriptions of their Plumages, Nests, and Eggs | their Dis- 

 tribution and Migrations | and a Brief Account of their Haunts and Habits | 

 with Introductory Chapters on the [ Study of Ornithology, How to Identify 

 Birds I and How to Collect and Preserve Birds | their Nests, and Eggs | By 

 Frank M. Chapman | Assistant Curator of the Department of Mammalogy and 

 Ornithology | in the American Museum of Natural History, New York City; | 

 Member of the American Ornithologists' Union, etc. | With Full-page Plates in 

 Colors and Black and White | and Upward of One Hundred and Fifty Cuts | 

 in the Text | New York | D. Appleton and Company | 1895. i2mo. pp. xiv 

 4-421. 20 full-page plls. ; 115 figs, in text. Library edition, cloth, $3.00; 

 pocket edition, flexible morocco, $3.50. 



