130 THE NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [i, 3, may 1905 



bird's aid, she took the material at hand and fashioned a nest after 

 her own way. 



Does it not raise a question whether the abihty to weave is to 

 be confined to the class of birds called weavers? To the writer, 

 at least, it seems evident that either instinct or " bird reason " 

 taught her that in the absence of the strength of the usual arti- 

 ficial nest, something new had to be brought into service to make 

 the nest stronger. D. R. Wood. 



State Normal School, 

 San Jose, California. 



I have seen a number of canaries' nests, but have not known of 

 one acting in any such manner. Certainly the finches do a good 

 deal of a rough sort of weaving, especially in lining the nest. 

 The chipping sparrow's nest is a model in point. This instance 

 may be explained, it seems to me, as the re-assertion of a native 

 instinct on bringing the canary back to a more natural environ- 

 ment. C. F. H. 



BOOK REVIEWS 



A B C of Bee Culture. By A. I. Root, revised by E. R. Root. Pp. 

 490, illustrated. Medina, O., A. I. Root Co., 1905. $1.20. 



This well-known " cyclopaedia of everything pertaining to 

 the care of the honey-bee " first appeared in 1877, and nearly 

 100,000 copies have been sold. For the information of readers 

 who have not seen earlier editions, we explain that it is arranged 

 on the dictionary plan for ready reference in connection with 

 practical work. If one wants at any particular time to know 

 about hives, stings, drones, queens, swarming, wintering, enemies 

 of bees, robbing — to take at random only a few of the interesting 

 topics which come to mind — full information of a very practical 

 kind is to be found under these headings. There are hundreds 

 of good figures which add to clearness of the descriptions. Any 

 one who has any practical dealings with bees will find this book 

 indispensable ; and many persons have found it very interesting 

 reading quite apart from actual bee-keeping. 



In this connection it may interest some readers to know that the 

 publishers of this complete guide issue several interesting pam- 

 phlets for amateurs wihch are good introductions to the ABC 

 volume. Among these are " Habits of the Honey-Bee " and 



