iSSS.] Rrcriit fJterdturr. \^S 



want' ? (Not that any one has actually felt that want until the void has 

 been filled; but it existed, and only needed filling to be felt and grow 

 by what it fed upon.) Even ornithologists, however hopelessly mired 

 down in the mazes of their 'shoptalk, ' as our irreverent friend terms 

 their technical vocabulary, may find in this book much to their profit. 

 Seeing that theirs is not the only language that is weighted with synony- 

 matic woe, they may take heart again. Many of them have 'viewed with 

 alarm,' as the politicians say, the great load of wordy rubbish that our 

 science carries ; the spectacle of a bird with half a dozen generic, a dozen 

 specific names, and several dozen combinations of these two terms has a 

 chastening eff'ect upon the mind. But now, with risen spirits, we can 

 'point with pride,' like statesmen, to the synonymatic confusion worse 

 confounded which our mother tongue offers to console us, if not to absolve 

 us from our sins. For here we have a thousand and more names for 

 three-score birds ! Et tu Brute, Mr. Trumbull .? 



But to be serious, as befits the rich embarrassment with which the author 

 endows us, let us examine this remarkable work. It treats all the game- 

 birds of Eastern North America — the natatorial, gallinaceous, limicoline 

 and paludicole birds ordinarily pursued, for sport by "that helpless but 

 interesting creature, 'the true sportsman,'" or for profit by "our gunners, a 

 class of men who earn a livelihood by shooting birds." These we find to 

 be sixty-one in number. They are first named in strict accord with the 

 rules and regulations for such cases made and provided by the A. O. U. 

 Committee, the dogmas of which deathless doers of deeds nomenclaturai 

 are accepted by Mr. Trumbull with orthodox humility. Then comes a 

 brief description, in language 'understanded of the people,' together with 

 a statement of habitat in each case, the range being usually drawn from 

 the same fountain of infallibility whence the sacred scientific names 

 issue: for in the beginning was the word, and the word was with the 

 Committee. With these data comes a portrait in each case — a striking 

 silhouette, or symphony in black and white, struck by the well-known 

 hand of Mr. Edwin Sheppard, who has made better likenesses of moje 

 birds than any other American artist now living. Having thus marked 

 down his bird, so to speak, Mr. Trumbull proceeds to bag his game with 

 a wealth and ingenuity of device that excite our unbounded admiration. 

 It is truly an infinite variety that neither age can stale nor custom wither 

 — a bounteousness, a plenitude, a very plethora, the fulness whereof is ex- 

 haustless. Allah is said to be invoked by the pious Mussulman under 

 ninety and nine aliases, and history but repeats itself in the myrionymy 

 of the game birds of America. A thousand names, for three-score birds, 

 by a single prophet ! 



The index occupies a little less than ii pages, 3 columns to a page, over 

 50 names to a column. Were it solid, this would represent about 1881 

 names for the 61 birds; but some are entered twice or thrice, and some 

 columns are not full. Making the very wide allowance of 881 names, there 

 may be supposed to be at the least a thousand, or an average of about six 

 teen vernacular names to every bird. 



