ij A Recent Literature. I j a u n 



Torrey's 'The Foot-Path Way.' 1 — Mr. Torrey's' writings always have a 

 charm in their happily worded sentences that never dull the delicate edge 

 of his humor, and that bring us the fragrance of the northern woods 

 without loss of any of its freshness, but each time he gathers together 

 a new volume we realize more and more the weightier reasons for his 

 preeminence in the group of writers with whom one naturally associates 

 him. He is not merely a philosopher and a sayer of happy things. He 

 observes nature keenly as well as sympathetically, and with a spirit of 

 scientific caution that stamps his work with a value which.the writings of 

 many a more prominent ornithologist will never possess. 



About two thirds of the chapters in the present collection are devoted 

 to birds, and in them he tells much that is interesting besides some 

 facts of real importance — as for instance the record of the Pine Grosbeak 

 as a summer bird on Mt. Lafayette, New Hampshire. Two chapters are 

 given to his experience of the breeding habits of Troc/iilus colubris; there 

 is another upon 'Robin Roosts'; and such titles as 'June in Franconia,' 

 'The Passing of the Birds,' 'A Great Blue Heron,' and 'December Out-of- 

 doors,' give a fair idea of the other ornithological contents of the volume. 

 Most of the chapters have already appeared in the pages of the 'Atlantic 

 Monthly,' but their reappearance in the present form deserves a cordial 

 welcome. — C. F. B. 



Ornithological Report of the Canadian Institute. 2 — This publication is 

 a record of the members' observations reported at the meetings from 

 April 15, 1890, to June 9, 1S91. It contains among other things a detailed 

 report, of fourteen pages, from a number of observers, on the occurrence 

 of the Evening Grosbeak in Ontario during the winter of 1S89-90, and an 

 annotated list, by W. L. Kells, of nearly a hundred and fifty species occur- 

 ing at Listowel, Ontario. In addition to these there area multitude of 

 brief notes, some of the highest interest, others less important, relating 

 many of them to habits, but the majority to dates of migration, etc., of 

 various species, rare and common. With hardly an exception the locali- 

 ties referred to are all within the Province of Ontario. It is impossible 

 here to quote any, even the most interesting, of the records, in spite of 

 the importance of many of them, especially of such as bear upon the 

 faunal peculiarities of the region. 



The number of persons who have contributed to the report is large, 

 and their work seems, on the whole, to show unusual accuracy as well as 



1 The Foot-Path Way | by | Bradford Torrey | [five lines=quotation] | [vignette] | 

 Boston and New York | Houghton, Mifflin and Company | The Riverside Press, 

 Cambridge | 1892 — 16°, pp. [iv,] 245. 



• Proceedings | of the | Ornithological Sub-section | of the Biological Section of the 

 I Canadian Institute | for | 1890-91 | edited by the editing committee. | (Extracted 

 from the Proceedings of the Canadian Institute by permission | of the Council.) | — | 

 Price- -25 cents. I — | Toronto : | The Copp, Clark Company, Limited. | 9 Front 

 Street West. | — | Published Nov. 1892. — Proc. Canad. Inst., Vol. Ill, pp. 27-89. 



