^^''imo^^^J ^^'^^^^ Literature. 473 



therefore, to the coast districts, the author's special field of research, only 

 ten pages being given to a consideration of birds peculiar to the more 

 elevated interior parts of the State. 



The introduction, prepared by Prof. Paul M. Rea, at the request of 

 the author, who was prevented from writing it by prolonged illness, 

 treats of the 'Physical Divisions of South Carolina,' and the 'History of 

 Ornithology in South CaroUna' (pp. xi-xxi). The latter begins with the 

 early explorations of the middle of the seventeenth century and to the time 

 of Catesby, whose well known work, 'The Natural History of South Caro- 

 Una, Florida, and the Bahama Islands,' was published in London, 1731- 

 1748. Aside from a slight contribution by Bartram, in 1791, Uttle was 

 added to the history of the birds of the State till the appearance of Audu- 

 bon's 'Birds of America' and 'Ornithological Biography,' 1831-1839, 

 who, with the assistance of Bachman, made the vicinity of Charleston "a 

 classic field in American ornithology." Compared with the ornithological 

 methods of the present day, their work was rtaturally superficial and to 

 some extent inaccurate in statement, which faults are corrected in the 

 present work in rigid detail. Later Mr. L. M. Loomis worked with great 

 care and thoroughness, from 1876 to 1892, in the vicinity of Chester in 

 the interior, while within this interval Mr. Brewster published the results 

 of his visits in 1883-1885 to the Charleston region, and Mr. Walter Hoxie 

 (1886-1892) pubhshed notes on various birds observed near Frogmore. 

 Mr. Wayne, however, has been our chief contributor to the ornithology of 

 eastern South Carolina. It is therefore exceedingly fortunate that the 

 results of his work are now made available in a connected and permanent 

 form. 



The number of species here recorded for the coast region is 309, with a 

 supplemental list of 28 species from the interior of the State, and a ' Hy- 

 pothetical List' of 22 species, many of which will doubtless be later found 

 to occasionally visit portions of the State. There are late (mostly 1910) 

 records and notes relating to 12 species in 'addenda,' and the work closes 

 with a bibliography of South Carolina ornithology numbering about 200 

 titles, and a very full index. 



As to the form of the book, it is not a 'manual,' since it gives no descrip- 

 tions or keys of the birds recorded, the text relating wholly to the manner 

 of occurrence of the species, but there are many extended references to 

 habits, and descriptions of nests and eggs, based on the personal experi- 

 ence of the author. It thus abounds in fresh information concerning the 

 life histories of South Carolina birds. Mr. Wayne's long experience and 

 great familiarity with the region about Charleston seems to have inspired 

 him with great confidence in the completeness of his researches, and that 

 what has not come to his personal knowledge in relation to the birds of the 

 coast region is not likely to be true. In other words, his attitude of censor- 

 ship of what has been recorded by others is perhaps in some instance too 

 severe. A record may sometimes be accepted, if not entirely improbable, 

 when it is not backed up by a specimen in proof of it. But on the whole 



