264 Recent Literature, [ap^ 



natural history of Labrador, has edited a reprint of the journal of Captain 

 George Cartwright the famous explorer of this interesting but inhospitable 

 coast. The original edition of the journal published in 1792 is a very scarce 

 work and is inaccessible to most readers, so that Dr. Townsend's reprint 

 is exceedingly welcome, placing at our disposal a vast amount of accurate 

 and interesting information concerning Labrador and its natural history, 

 one hundred and thirty years ago. The text is preserved without change 

 except for the omission of " unimportant details and the mass of repeti- 

 tion," while in foot-notes the editor has given us the current technical namea 

 of the animals and plants which are referred to and as a foreword haa 

 furnished an entertaining biographical sketch of Captain Cartwright. 



Most striking among the numerous allusions to birds are the references, 

 to the Great Auk or ' Penguin ' the most extended of which treats of its 

 threatened extermination on Funk Island, where in 1785 the inhabitants 

 of Fogo went with their boats for birds and eggs. " They lay their gang- 

 boards from the gunwale of the boat to the rocks, and then drive as many 



penguins on board, as she will hold It has been customary of late 



years, for several crews of men to live all the summer on that island, for 

 the sole purpose of killing birds for the sake of their feathers, the destruc- 

 tion which they have made is incredible. If a stop is not soon put to that 

 practice, the whole breed will be diminished to almost nothing, particu- 

 larly the penguins: for this is now the only island they have left to breed 

 upon." 



Captain Cartwright's respect for accuracy in describing the habits of 

 birds and mammals is conspicuous, the more so because it is unusual in 

 explorers of his time, and this trait as well as his sense of humor are well 

 shown in his extended account of the fieaver which he begins as follows: 

 " I tremble at seeing myself under the necessity of contradicting that cele- 

 brated natural historian Compt de Buff on; yet I must take the liberty to 

 do it. He says, ' A beaver has a scaly tail, because he eats fish:' I wonder 

 much that Monsieur Buff on had not one himself for the same reason; for 

 I am sure that he has eaten a great deal more fish, than all the beavers in 

 the world put together." 



All naturalists especially ornithologists and mammalogists will find this, 

 volume exceedingly interesting reading and a valuable work of reference. — 

 W. S. 



Taylor on Birds of Northern Humboldt County, Nevada. — In 



an interesting report ^ Mr. Walter P. Taylor describes a field trip made by 

 himself and Mr. Charles H. Richardson, Jr. in the Pine Forest Mountain^ 

 region of Nevada May 10-August 10, 1909. 



1 Field Notes on Amphibians, Reptiles and Birds of Northern Humboldt Coimty,. 

 Nevada; with a discussion of some of the Paiinal Features of the Region. By- 

 Walter P. Taylor. University of California Publications in ZoOlogy, Vol. VII ,^ 

 No. 10. pp. 319-436. February 14, 1912. 



