Z7(> 



NATURE 



[May 26, 1 9 10 



of individual birds — their actual routes of travel, their 

 retreat during our winter, and their home in our 

 spring and summer — is adopted, there appears little 

 hope of our ignorance of the mystery of migration 

 being quickly or greatly dissipated. We suggest this 

 subject for consideration at the approaching Inter- 

 national Ornithological Congress in Berlin. 



(3) The "Catalogue of Canadian Birds," by the 

 Macouns, father and son, is an ende^jvour, successfully 

 carried out, " to bring together facts on the range 

 and nesting habits of all birds known to reside in, 

 migrate to or visit the northern part of the con- 

 tinent," including Newfoundland, Greenland, and 

 Alaska. The authors enumerate 768 species as the 

 avifauna of the region indicated. There is a full 

 account of the distribution, nesting habits, and migra- 

 tion of each species, with many interesting notes on 

 their habits and life-historj'. An introductory note 

 by the director states that the present volume is an 

 enlarged and to a great extent re-writt^n edition of 

 a previous catalogue, in three parts, which became 

 exhausted immediately after publication. This is 

 ■excellent evidence, not only of the interest taken by 

 the public in the birds of their own country, but of 

 the value to ornithologists generally of the work, for 

 which we have nothing but commendation — except to 

 say that it deserves a better binding — and to express 

 the hope that the same fortune may be in store for 

 the present edition which attended its predecessor. 



(4 and 5) These two volumes belong to the series of 

 publications being issued b}- the Field Museum of 

 Natural History in Chicago. Both are by Mr. C. B. 

 Cory, the curator of the Department of Zoology. The 

 first of these, on "The Birds of the Leeward Islands," 

 enumerates all the species inhabiting Aruba, Curagoa, 

 Bonaire, Islas de Aves, Los Roques, Orchilla, Tor- 

 tuga, Blanquilla, Los Hermanos, the Testigos, and 

 Margarita. The collections were chieflv made by Mr. 

 J. F. Ferry and Dr. N. Dearborn. Each island is 

 dealt with separately, the list of birds from each being 

 prefaced by a short account of the island and a list of 

 its ornithological literature. Dr. Hartert, now of Tring, 

 had previously visited the larger islands of the group, 

 and has described in detail their avifauna in the Hon. 

 Walter Rothschild's Novitates Zoologicae, and in the 

 Ihis, so that in few of them were there many novelties 

 to be expected. Nevertheless, five new species and 

 three new subspecies were discovered, chiefly on the 

 smaller islets which Mr. Cory's energetic collectors 

 were the first to visit. 



Mr. Cory's second book is a much more pretentious 

 volume, and includes, "as far as known, all species 

 and subspecies of birds that occur in Illinois and 

 Wisconsin," the total number being 365 (not 398, as 

 stated in the preface), with descriptions of their 

 various plumages, nests, and eggs, and geographical 

 distribution, together with more or less brief bio- 

 graphical notes concerning them. It is more, how- 

 ever, than an avifauna; it is, in addition, an ornith- 

 ologv for less advanced students. The book is 

 divided into two parts, the first devoted to a key to 

 the families and species, and the second to biograph- 

 ical notes on the species. No fewer than 274 pages 

 are given to the ke}', which is constructed on a series 

 of highly artificial characters. In the first place, the 

 birds are divided into two great divisions — water 

 birds and land birds. In the former, Mr. Cory in- 

 cludes landrails, herons, golden plovers, and peewits 

 (because they may sometimes be found feeding near 

 water!); yet ospreys, sea-eagles, and kingfishers, 

 which find their food chiefly in that element, are 

 classed as land birds. The collector with a bird in 

 his hand must first decide whether it is a land or 

 a water species, and, having determined this (not, per- 



NO. 21 17, VOL. 8.^] 



haps, as Mr. Cory would), he must, in order to rur 

 down the family, enter tables prepared for him accord- 

 ing to the length of the wing. "A large series ol 

 specimens has shown," says Mr. Cory, "that while 

 adult birds of the same species differ considerably ir 

 length, the wing measure is very constant." Recent 

 investigations have, however, showed . this statemeni 

 to be far from true. Wings vary greatly, not only ir 

 actual length in different individuals of the same 

 species, but the wing feathers, the primaries, for in 

 stance, vary in length in different proportions. Ever 

 Mr. Cory's tables show this. The species Passer 

 herbulus ( !) caudacutus nelsoui is to be found in i 

 group with wings from i'75-2'5 mches ; also in i 

 second, with wings from 2"i5-2'37 inches long, as wel 

 as in a third, with wings from 2'37-2'75 inches ! Ex 

 amples of the same sort are numerous. Another speciei 

 appears in one group as having " bellv clear vellovv " 

 in a second with " underfronts yellow or greenisl 

 yellow," and in a third with " under-parts pah 

 greenish yellow." 



A curious error occurs on p. 114, where an illus 

 tration entitled "first five primaries emarginatc 

 Bald eagle," is drawn with six primaries ! The authoi 

 here adheres also to a method of enumerating thi 

 primary quills which has long been given up by al 

 modern ornithologists, who number these feather 

 from the carpal-joint outwards, and not from th( 

 point of the wing inwards. 



The second and really valuable portion of the worl 

 deals with the history of the 365 species found in th( 

 two States, in which the very numerous (and excel 

 lent, be it said) illustrations appearing in the key an 

 all needlessly repeated, thus adding greatly to the cos 

 and to the bulk of the book. The volume is beauti 

 fully printed on a fine-surfaced paper, and is worth;; 

 of a better binding than the flimsy paper covers ii 

 which it is issued; but it would be greatly improve< 

 by having the system of keys to the families an( 

 species remodelled and much condensed. 



PORTUGUESE ZAMBEZIA.'^ 



FOR the pictures alone this book is worth pur 

 chasing. We have rarely seen in any simila 

 work dealing with Africa a better collection of admir 

 able photographs which are apt illustrations of th 

 text. The book is not written round the illustrations 

 nor are these photographs stuck into the work wit? 

 out relation to its text and purport. If Mr. Maughar 

 had further confined himself in his text to his owl 

 personal observations of this relativ-ely vast region c| 

 Portuguese Zambezia, and to his own theories base 

 on his personal observations and experience, thei 

 would be nothing in the book to criticise unfavou 

 ably. But he has conceived it necessary to borro 

 largely from the works of other writers, borrowing 

 which he frankh"^ acknowledges in the preface, bi 

 which, one might plead, were quite unnecessary 

 his purpose in view. 



Somehow or other, a mischievous idea has sprej 

 amongst many writers on Africa of late years th 

 it is not sufficient for them to relate their own expei 

 ences and to describe a portion of the country tb 

 have visited, but that their work must make s 

 attempt at laeing encyclopaedic. If they write 

 historians of their own personal researches, then th 

 feel obliged to give summaries of linguistics, natui 

 history in general, or botany, which they extract fro 

 already published works, and again set forth ehh 



1 " Zambetia : a General Description of the Valley of the Zambeii Rr j 

 from its Delta to the River Aroangwa, with its History, Agriculture, Fl< 

 Fauna, and Ethnography." By R. C. F. Maugham. Pp. xiv+408 ; v 

 maps and illustrations. (London : John Murray, 1910.) Price 15s. net. 



