Fuly 1, 1836} 
NATURE 
191 
author, because there is a large amount of valuable 
observation which readers should have occasion to refer 
to after the first perusal of the work, but which would be 
lost without such an index, owing to the necessarily dis- 
jointed mode of treatment entailed by an adherence to 
seasonal records. We need only refer to the early editions 
of Kirby and Spence’s “ Introduction to Entomology” as 
an example of a work containing a large collection of 
facts.and observations rendered almost useless for want 
of an index. 
_ Dr. Abbott is evidently a close observer, and English 
naturalists will derive both pleasure and profit by a perusal 
of his chronicle. It is rather to be regretted that he has 
confined himself so much in the text to the local trivial 
names of the animals and plants of his district. It places 
English readers at a disadvantage, for example, to have 
to turn to the index each time a species is mentioned in 
order to find out what is referred to under such names as 
“grakles,” “quaker-girls,” “ quahog,’ or “scuttle-bug.” 
But this is, after all, a matter of small importance, 
because the scientific names will be found in the index, 
and the criticism is made only on behalf of that large 
circle of readers in the old country which the work ought 
to attract, and to which it appeals through its English 
publishers. 
The author's strong point appears to be ornithology, | 
| observations of the same person in the same locality 
tions are recorded in a pleasant, chatty style which is sure | 
| arrive at any general conclusions.” 
but his sympathies are fairly distributed, and his observa- 
to be attractive to general readers :— 
“To realise what a wealth of animal and vegetable life 
is ever at hand for him who chooses to study it, let a | 
specialist visit you for a few days. Do not have more 
than one at a time, or you may be bewildered by their 
enthusiasm. 
“T have had them come in turn—botanists, concholo- 
_ gists, microscopists, and even archeologi-ts. What an 
' array of names to strike terror to the breasts of the 
timid; yet they were all human, and talked plain 
English, and, better than all, were both instructive and 
amusing.” 
As a specimen of the author's style we give the | 
following from Chapter II., entitled “ Poaetquissings in 
Winter.” 
In order to carry on observations without frightening 
the denizens of the creek, the author was in the habit of 
lying down upon the ice, covered over with a blanket so 
as to be able to see into the frozen depths. The terres- 
trial life soon became accustomed to his presence, and at 
length became inquisitive. “This was amusingly illus- 
trated in one instance by a weasel, in crossing the creek 
on the ice, stopping to investigate the peculiar something 
lying in its path. Peering under the blanket, it either 
| heard my blood circulating or smelled it. At all events 
it gave my ankle a nip which brought me quickly to my 
feet, and sent the bloodthirsty wretch scudding over the 
ice with marvellous rapidity. How the crows laughed! 
Thad noticed a flock of these birds when I went to the 
creek, and had been wondering if their incessant cawing 
was not a discussion of my curious movements. They 
were, possibly, disposed to think me a trap laid for them, 
but were astonished or amused at my sudden regaining 
of the perpendicular when the weasel offered to investi- 
gate the matter.” 
In the third chapter, “ Twixt Cold and Heat,” will be 
found a good collection of observations and experiments 
bearing on the subject of instinct, with special reference 
to the nesting of birds. Whether the author’s views on 
this much-vexed question will command assent we cannot 
undertake to say, but whether we differ from his conclu- 
sions or not, his experiments are certainly worthy of 
serious consideration. Among these we have a series of 
experiments with a chromo-picture of a cat, with a 
mirror, and with coloured yarns, the latter having for 
their object the testing of the sense of colour. In the 
case of a Baltimore oriole in course of buildinz its nest, a 
decided choice was exerted—red, yellow, purple, and 
green yarns having been refused, and gray only selected, 
till the nest was nearly finished, when a few of the purple 
strands were used. Other amusing experiments on the 
transference of eggs are described in this same chapter. 
With reference to the subject of migration the author 
states in Chapter IV., on “ Marsh Wrens,” that “ temper- 
ature and migration are largely coincident, but cannot be 
considered as cause and effect.” He further adds that 
certain rules respecting the habits of American birds 
which had been regarded by previous observers as fixed 
and invariable, are quite variable if observations are only 
continued over a sufficiently long period of time. “ The 
results of a single year will have but little bearing upon 
the regularity or want of it in a bird’s movements. The 
must extend over at least a decade before it is safe to 
We commend this 
passage to the members of our county field clubs who 
are in want of material for observation. 
Space will not permit us to make any lengthy extracts 
from the book, but we cannot refrain from calling the 
attention of the bird-destroyers of this country to the 
| admirable “apology” for the grakle (Qu/scalus versicolor) 
which the author makes in the fifth chapter. These birds 
were formerly regarded as enemies to agr:culture, owing 
to their habit of feeding upon ripe grain, which led te 
their being dubbed by the unpopular name of “maize 
thieves.” But, according to Dr. Abbott’s observations, it 
is atleast doubtful whether, on the whole, man does not 
profit more by the existence of these birds than is lost by 
the attack upon the grain. To get an idea of the amount 
of insect food consumed by a pair with five young, he ob- 
served the birds for two hours (10 to If a.m. and 2 to 3 
p-m.), during which time thirteen trips were made by each 
bird, each returning with an insect every time. The 
young thus got a ‘“‘square meal’’ at least every ten 
minutes. The feeding goes on for ten hours per diem till 
the young are twenty-five days old, when they leave the 
nest, so that during this period each young bird has been 
supplied with 1300 insects, or 6500 altogether. The eleven 
nests in the colony under observation were supplied, 
therefore, with 71,500 insects, and as seven pairs in the 
colony raised second broods, a further supply of about 
45,500 insects was “ requisitioned,” thus bringing up the 
total number consumed by one colony of birds to the 
enormous total of 117,000, or, including the food of the 
parent birds, about 150,000 ‘“‘forms of insect life de- 
stroyed, all of which would have proved more or less 
destructive to the growing crops.” We hope that the 
lesson taught by this observation will not be lost upon 
those who fail to see in persecution by birds a sufficient 
