1S92.J liecent Literature. 63 



Keyser's 'Bird-dom.'* — Despite its rather unprepossessing title, 'Bird- 

 dom' proves to be a collection of twenty-six ornithological essays possess- 

 ing much attractiveness as a series of popular sketches of bird life, most 

 of which have previously appeared in various magazines. The writer 

 gives his experiences in the field, in the hope of awakening in others an 

 appreciation of nature. "If the hearts of the young," says our author, 

 "could be stirred to a love of nature, and their minds aroused to study her, 

 much would be done toward solving some of the perplexing social prob- 

 lems of the day." The titles of the essays, as 'The Alert Eye,' 'A Lesson 

 in Bird Study,' 'Difficulties of Bird Study,' 'First Meetings, "Birds on the 

 Wing,' 'My Woodland,' 'Lyrists of a Suburb,' etc., suggest to some degree 

 the character of the book, in which the writer tells how he learned to 

 recognize birds, relating his methods, his successes and his failures, and 

 their causes. A healthful spirit, unlimited enthusiasm, and an intense 

 love of birds pervades Mr. Keyser's little book, which is interspersed with 

 many useful hints to those who would have a 'speaking acquaintance' with 

 the feathered tenants of field and wood. While appreciating the need of 

 specimens on the part of specialists, he disapproves of the killing of birds 

 by amateurs, and offers this good advice: "So I advise that the money 

 spent for guns and cartridges be spent in visiting some good college, or a 

 large city, where an extensive collection of mounted birds may be studied 

 at leisure. In that way you will be able to clear up ornithological points 

 without resort to bloodshed." He has evidently become a proficient field 

 ornithologist without destroying many birds, and writes delightfully and 

 in an original vein of many of his favorite bird friends. The book is based 

 apparently on observations made mainly in northeastern Ohio, and a 

 Kirtland's Warbler is one of the author's much prized discoveries. — 

 J. A. A. 



Scott B. Wilson's Aves Ha-wraiienses.f — The progress of ornithology 

 of late years is well exemplified by the work before us. Twenty years ago 

 a small octavo pamphlet held all we knew about the birds of one of the 

 most interesting and peculiar zoogeographical provinces; while today it 

 requires a handsome quarto volume with numerous colored plates to fully 

 represent our knowledge of the subject. Twenty years ago the number 

 of species known to inhabit the Hawaiian Islands was considered to be 

 about forty by the best authority (Sclater, Ibis, 1S71, p. 361) ; today the 

 number is scarcely less than seventy ; and the most astonishing fact is 

 that this increase of our knowledge of one of the most accessible and 

 most civilized archipelagoes in the Pacific Ocean has taken place during 



* Bird-dom | By | Leander Keyser | [Motto=6 lines, from Lowell] Boston | D. 

 Lothrop Company | Washington Street opposite Bromfield. No date. 1891, lamo, 

 pp. 226. 



fAves Hawaiienses. — The Birds of the Sandwich Islands. By Scott B. Wilson, 

 F.Z. S. Assisted by A. H. Evans, M.A.. F.Z. S. London, R. H.Porter. Part i. 

 Dec. 1890; part ii, Sept. 1891. 



