3T4 Recent Literature. \*o^. 



RECENT LITERATURE. 



Mrs. Wright's 'The Friendship of Nature.' — Although not a 'bird 

 book' in a strictly ornithological sense, Mrs. Wright's 'The Friendship 

 of Nature' 1 , as its subtitle — 'A New England Chronicle of Birds and 

 Flowers'— indicates, deals with birds to a sufficient extent to warrant 

 reference to her charming book in the pages of 'The Auk.' If no new 

 facts in bird life are 'chronicled,' her frequent allusions to birds have 

 a poetic setting and a background that render her book one of unusual 

 literary merit and peculiarly fascinating to every lover of nature. The 

 book consists of eleven chapters, nearly all for the first time here pub- 

 lished. Some hint of the method of treatment may be gathered from 

 the titles as follows: 'A New England May-Day'; 'When Orchards 

 Bloom'; 'The Romaunt of the Rose'; 'The Garden of the Sea'; 'A Song 

 of Summer'; 'Feathered Philosophers'; 'Nature's Calm'; 'The Story of 

 a Garden'; 'Rustling Wings'; 'The Loom of Autumn'; 'A Winter Mood.' 



The author easily takes first rank as a poet of nature, her book being 

 truly a poem in prose. In general her allusions to the varied objects of 

 nature, whether animals or plants, or things inanimate, are wonderfully 

 truthful and show not only keen powers of observation but broad culture. 

 The twelve illustrations are most happily chosen and exceedingly well 

 reproduced in photogravure. 2 We consider that we do our readers a favor 

 in calling attention to the intellectual treat the book offers to those in 

 friendship with nature. — J. A. A. 



Shufeldt's 'Comparative Oology of North American Birds.' 3 — In a 

 paper of somewhat over 30 pages, Dr. Shufeldt attempts "to bring 

 together what is already well known in regard to the oology of North 

 American birds, placing it before the ornithologist in a more condensed 

 form than it is usually given and in a comparative Avay." Much of this 

 is 'placed' in the form of comparative tables, compiled mainly from 

 Coues's 'Key' and Ridgway's 'Manual.' Much stress is here and there 

 laid upon the "discrepancies" found in the descriptions of different authors 



1 The Friendship | of Nature | A New England Chronicle of Birds | and 

 Flowers | By | Mabel Osgood Wright | With Twelve Full-page Illustrations | from 

 Photographs by the Author | New York | Macmillan and Company | and London | 

 1894 I All rights reserved. — 8vo. pp. viii + 238. 12 photogravure illustrations. 



2 The work appears, however, in two editions, the smaller in ordinary i2mo. size, 

 with merely a frontispiece. The larger, or 'large paper' edition, is limited, we believe, 

 to 300 numbered copies. 



3 Comparative Oology of North American Birds. By R. W. Shufeldt. Rep. U. S. 

 Nat. Mus. for 1892 (1894), pp. 461-493. 



