iSgi-l Rereiif Li/erafure. lO"? 



tiiniitelv cases like tliis are few, hut tliev incline one to caution in accept- 

 ing some other interesting statements made by his correspondents in 

 regard to matters that have not come under Dr. Warren's own observa- 

 tion. If some of these records are not of sufficient interest to the general 

 reader to be given more space in the book itself, their full details, if sub- 

 stantiated, should at least be published elsewhere; and if not fully sus- 

 tained, there is no excuse for their appearance in print at all. 



The book ends with an appendix of 92 pages, which includes an ac- 

 count of the Pennsylvania ' Scalp Act'; extracts from reports of the U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture (54 pages) upon '' Food of Hawks and Owls," 

 " The Food of Crows," and " The English Sparrow "; a tabulated report 

 of bird?that struck a light-house at Atlantic City, N. J., in the autumn of 

 1889; a list of publications quoted in the Report, and of observers who 

 contributed to it; and a glossary of technical terms. 



One feature, invaluable in a work of popular instruction in such a sub- 

 ject, is the unusual abundance of colored plates which, happilj', legisla- 

 tive authority has bestowed with an enlightened liberality. These num- 

 ber altogether 99, and on them are shown 160 species, often two or three 

 different plumages of one species being exhibited. By the terms of the 

 legislative 'order to print' the lithographer was restricted in the number 

 of colors to be used, but in spite of this he has succeeded in producing 

 plates that in almost every instance will be of the utmost usefulness in 

 aiding the learner to identify the birds he meets. In a few cases, e. jo-.^ 

 some of the Thrushes and Sparrows, the close similarity in coloring of 

 the species has proved too much for the artist's abilities, — or for the 

 means at his command, — and we fear that the seeker after knowledge will 

 get but little aid from them. Most of the figures are of course reduced in 

 size, and unfortunately the proportion between the actual sizes of differ- 

 ent species represented on the same plate has sometimes been over- 

 looked, with results that may now and then prove confusing to a careless 

 reader. Another point that is open to criticism is the order, or lack of 

 order, in which the plates are arranged, — utterly without regard to the 

 sequence of the species in the text. Sea Birds face the text that treats of 

 Woodpeckers, Warblers appear opposite the accounts of Birds of Prej', 

 and Wrens and Waders are seen where Sparrows and Finches would be 

 looked for. 



Yet if the book be considered as a whole, its few faults are chiefly such 

 as are objectionable from the standpoint of the scientific ornithologist, 

 and detract little from its value as a hand-book for the people; whereas it 

 we look in the other scale we see a book, well proportioned, readable, full 

 of just the information that the public needs, one that can hardly fail lo 

 mark an era in the popular knowledge of ornithology, at least in lliis 

 much favored State. Tiie author is to be congratulated upon having 

 accomplished a work of such far-reaching usefulness, and we hope Hint 

 the Legislature of Pennsylvania may see fit to complete its good work by 

 enlarging the edition of the Report to such a degree as to bring it within 

 the reach of all who are interested in the subject. — C. F. B. 



