VOl 'l906 :i11 ] Recent Literature 467 



1862 to the present day they have been constantly under the observation 

 of an ever increasing number of ornithologists. Thus," continues the 

 author, "we have knowledge of them extending back over a practically 

 unbroken period of more than seventy years. This, although by no means 

 complete at all points, is sufficient to enable us to trace some of the more 

 important and interesting changes in the local distribution and abundance 

 of many of the species — especially the larger ones — which have taken 

 place during the period just indicated." 



For a region so well known for so long a time, and so exhaustively 

 studied by so many observers for the last twenty-five years, it seems a 

 little singular that this should prove to be the first special publication on 

 the birds of Cambridge and its immediate vicinity; the many previously 

 published notes and records relating to it being widely scattered, and 

 having reference mainly to the rarer species. The present monograph 

 is of course based primarily and chiefly upon Mr. Brewster's own obser- 

 vations, covering a period of some forty years; but use has been made of 

 all the hitherto published records; of the unpublished minutes of the 

 Nuttall Ornithological Club, extending back to 1873; and of the personal 

 field notes of a large number of the members of the Club, and of other 

 ornithological friends of the author, which have been placed at his dis- 

 posal, and which are of course duly accredited in the work. 



The work opens without a formal 'table of contents,' — a rather incon- 

 venient omission, and about the only point open to criticism in its other- 

 wise admirable make-up. A 'Preface' of four pages (pp. 2-6) explains 

 the basis and plan of the work, and contains the author's acknowledgments 

 of indebtedness for assistance. An 'Introduction' of nearly 80 pages 

 (pp. 7-84) is followed by the 'Annotated List' (pp. 85-398), the 'Expla- 

 nation of Plates' (p. 598), and the 'Index' (pp. 401-426). 



The Introduction, after a few pages of generalities, takes up the 'Cam- 

 bridge Region' for treatment in detail by minor localities, beginning with 

 the author's garden, comprising, prior to 1873, about six acres of smooth, 

 gently sloping land, bordered by tall shade trees, and embracing orchards 

 of apple, pear, and peach trees, shrubbery, and mowing fields; later it 

 was reduced to two acres, the other four having been cut up into streets 

 and house lots and built upon. The two periods are compared in respect 

 to the bird population, the two lists of species given being notably in con- 

 trast. A list of the birds breeding in 'Norton's Woods,' near the present 

 University Museum, from 1866 to 1874, is furnished by Dr. Walter Wood- 

 man, and another for Cambridgeport, in the "late sixties," is contributed 

 by Mr. Henry W. Henshaw. The Charles River Marshes, Mount Auburn, 



— the Sweet Auburn of early days, and a favorite haunt of Nuttall, — 

 and Fresh Pond, with its swamps and marshes, are all treated at length, 

 with particular reference to their former characteristics and surroundings 

 as contrasted with those of to-day, brought about by man's intervention 



— the filling in of much of the Back Bay basin, and the transformation 

 of marshes, fields, and woodlands into crowded streets. These pertinent 



