VOl i?d7 IV ] Recent Literature. 355 



Mr. Wolley's lifetime and for long after his death .... Lastly, I have to 

 state that the Collection of which this is the Catalogue has been given to 

 the University of Cambridge, in whose Museum of Zoology I trust it may 

 long continue." 



The frontispiece gives a view of Muoniovara, Mr. Wolley's headquarters 

 in Lapland, from a pencil drawing by Mr. Wolley made in the autumn of 

 1853. A map of part of Lapland illustrates the ornithological journeys 

 of Mr. Wolley in 1853-1857. The 'Catalogue,' it is almost needless to 

 say, is a mine of previously unpublished first-hand information respecting 

 the breeding haunts and habits of many northern-breeding water-fowl 

 and other species; while the extended editorial additions and comment 

 greatly increase the interest and value of the work. 1 — J. A. A. 



Mershon's 'The Passenger Pigeon.' 2 — In compiling his book on the 

 Passenger Pigeon Mr. Mershon has done good service. Its contents is 

 varied and of unequal value, but as a whole it is a convenient and valuable 

 record of the former almost incredible abundance of a now nearly extinct 

 species. Much of the material here brought together has never before 

 been published, and much of the remainder is from such scattered sources 

 that it is a great convenience to have it thus brought together in a single 

 handy volume. The author modestly disclaims any previous literary 

 training, and says: "I am merely a business man who is interested in the 

 Passenger Pigeon because he loves the outdoors and its wild things, and 

 sincerely .regrets the cruel extinction of one of the most interesting natural 

 phenomena of his own country. If I have been able to make a compila- 

 tion that otherwise would not have been available for the interested reader, 

 I need make no further apologies for the imperfect manner of my treat- 

 ment of this subject." The treatment is, naturally, far from exhaustive, 

 the details relating mainly to southern Michigan, but a wide circle of 

 readers will be grateful for the large amount of new and first-hand informa- 

 tion here brought together. The matter follows in logical sequence, and 

 a few errors in personal names, and a little indistinctness here and there 

 in setting off the parts of the narrative derived from different sources, 

 can be easily pardoned. An index, however, would have been of great 

 service. 



The work is divided into nineteen chapters, with captions indicative 

 of their contents. The first, entitled 'My Boyhood among the Pigeons,' 

 is delightfully reminiscent of the author's own early experiences with 

 pigeons in southern Michigan. The second and third chapters are reprints 



1 Since these lines were written the sad news has been received of Professor New- 

 ton's death. See below, under ' Notes and News.' 



2 The | Passenger Pigeon | By | W. B. Mershon | [Seal] New York | The Outing 

 Publishing Company | 1907 — 8vo, pp. xii + 225, 3 colored and 6 half-tone plates. 

 (Price, $3.00 net.) 



