Book Reviews 



Handbook of Birds of Eastern North America, revised edi- 

 tion. Frank M. Chapman. Pp. xxix-530. D. Appleton & 

 Co. Cloth, $3.50 ; leather, $4.00. 



Bird students have been anticipating with pleasure the ap- 

 pearance of this revised edition and no disappointment is felt in 

 its realization. Much new material has been added. In the pre- 

 liminary chapters there is now a list of ornithological societies- 

 and magazines. The discussion of bird distribution is amplified, 

 and a valuable zonal map of North America is added. The treat- 

 ment of bird migration is extended, and a number of outline 

 maps make the subject more lucid. Much new material is in- 

 cluded in the treatment of the plumage and the significance of 

 color. These introductory chapters of a hundred and seventeen 

 pages are exceedingly interesting reading, and make about the 

 best discussion of bird problems in small compass that is avail- 

 able. The keys and descriptions of species make up the rest of 

 the book. Throughout, these have been brought up to date. 

 Twenty-four full page plates, mostly in color, in addition to the 

 many figures, add to the value of the work. Extensive literature 

 references are added to the preliminary chapters, and a biblio- 

 graphical appendix supplements the body of the book. 



The Flight of Birds. F. W. Headley, Pp. x+163. Witherby 

 & Co., London. Five shillings. Chas. Scribner's Sons, American 

 agents. 



This book discusses in a very entertaining way the problem of 

 bird flight, considering the animal as an efficient flying machine. 

 Chapter I, Gliding; III, Motive Power; V, Steering; VII. The 

 Machinery of Flight ; VIII, \^arieties of Wing and of Flight ; IX, 

 Pace and Last, are some of the eleven chapter headings which 

 give an idea of the scope of the work. There are sixteen full- 

 page plates and twenty-six figures in the text. The Machinery of 

 Flight, chapter VII. is an interesting discussion of the bird's 

 structure, with especial reference to its bearing on flight. The 

 diagrams make clear the relations of bones, muscles, tendons and 

 feathers to produce the needed mechanism. ]\Iany of the photo- 

 graphic reproductions of the birds in flight catch them in atti- 

 tudes of wing and body that are strange indeed. This photo- 

 graphic analysis of the various stages of flight make it cJear as 

 to how much the eye of the observer misses. The l)ook is a 



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