498 



NATURE 



[April y:), 1874 



that they possessed a clear perception of the most effectual 

 means of raising and advancing their fallen country ; 

 they read aright the lessons of the recent war, and 

 declared that Science alone, in its widest acceptance, 

 could be the saviour and elevator of France. And, in- 

 deed, there is the greatest hope of a country that has 

 produced men, and that in so great numbers, capable of 

 doing the work the results of which are chronicled in the 

 handsome volume before us ; for we are persuaded that 

 this first volume of the French Association's Proceedings 

 will compare favourably with any single volume of the Pro- 

 ceedings of the British Association. The meeting last year 

 at Lyons fully bore out the promise of the first meeting, 

 and we have no doubt that this year's meeting at Lille will 

 be at least equally successful. Let the members of the 

 Association only do all in their power to keep up its high 

 character and carry out faithfully its declared objects, and 

 the beneficial results of its establishment both to Science 

 and to France will, ere long, be evident. As it is, partly no 

 doubt owing to the work of the Association, Science since 

 the conclusion of the Franco-Prussian war has taken 

 immense strides in France ; everything taken into con- 

 sideration, the amount of scientific activity which has 

 recently been developed in that country is very won- 

 derful, and calculated to call forth the gratitude of the 

 friends of science and humanity. 



NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS 

 A History of North American Birds. By S. F. Baird, 

 T. M. Brewer, and R. Ridgway. Vols. i. ii. and iii. Land 

 Birds. (Little, Brown and Co., 1874,) 

 ''"pHE ornithologists of the United States appear to be 

 -L not less active than those of this country at the pre- 

 sent moment. Whilst here we have Gould's " Birds ot 

 Great Britain," Dresser's " Birds of Europe," and Newton's 

 new edition of " Yarrell," all appearing at the same time, 

 so in America Coues's "Key" and Cooper's "Birds cf 

 California" are quickly followed by the present important 

 work on the whole of the North American Ornis. For 

 this undertaking Prof. Baird, the well-known Assistant- 

 Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, has obtained 

 the assistance of two very efficient coadjutors, Dr. T. M. 

 Brewer, of Boston, and Mr. Ridgway, already well known 

 for his accurate work in ornithology. 



The object of the present work, which aims at a wider 

 grasp than any of its predecessors, is to give an account 

 of what is known of the birds, not of the United States 

 only, but of the whole of the Continent of North America 

 north of the Mexican boundary. Greenland is included 

 on the one side, and the newly acquired United States 

 territory of Alaska on the other, so that many European 

 and Asiatic forms, which have been lately discovered in 

 these two countries, are now for the first time added to the 

 .American list. 



The materials upon which this undertaking is prin- 

 cipally based consist of the very extensive collections of 

 birds from every part of the Nciv World, in the Smith- 

 sonian Museum at Washington. The numerous expe- 

 ditions for exploration and survey sent out of recent 

 years by the Government of the United States into nearly 

 every portion of their enormous western domain have 

 been invariably accompanied by one or more collectors 

 whose contributions have all been deposited in the 



stores of the Smithsonian Institution. But besides their 

 collections these investigating naturalists have reaped a 

 rich harvest of facts concerning the life-history of the 

 creatures they have collected, and have deposited their 

 records and journals also in the Smithsonian Archives. 

 From these manuscripts, particularly from the notes of the 

 late Mr. Robert Kennicott, who made most extensive 

 explorations in Western America and in the most northern 

 portion of the Hudsons Bay Territory, many of the most 

 novel facts recorded in the present work have been 

 drawn. 



The special value of the researches of Mr. Kennicott 

 and his fellow-workers in the north-west lies in the fact 

 that a large number of the rapacious birds and water- 

 fowl of North America resort in summer to these thinly- 

 populated districts for the purpose of breeding. Their 

 haunts, not having been previously invaded, much novel 

 information on the nesting habits of the members of these 

 two groups is for the first time published in this work. 



Besides Messrs. Baird, Ridgway, and Brewer, whose 

 names appear on the title-page, we are informed in the 

 preface that two other well-known American naturalists 

 have contributed to the present work — Prof. Gill having 

 furnished a portion of the introduction, and Dr. Coues 

 the tables of the orders and families. 



The work is profusely illustrated by woodcuts, besides 

 containing a series of illustrations of the heads of all the 

 species, drawn upon separate plates. The woodcuts con- 

 tain the outlines of the principal characters of every 

 genus, embracing the shape of the bill as seen from above 

 and from the side, the comparative lengths of the wing 

 and tail feathers, and the outline of the tarsus and toes ; 

 besides reduced but well-executed and highly-character- 

 istic whole figures of many of the species. 



The tendency of the American ornithologists of late 

 years has been rather to unduly augment the number 

 of species by raising slight local variations in form and 

 structure to specific rank. In the present work rather 

 the opposite tendency is manifested, and we are not sure 

 that it is not in some instances carried too far. For in- 

 stance, the whole of the Purple Martins, of the genus 

 Prague, recently divided by Prof. Baird into seven or eight 

 species, are now treated of as one ; and the different 

 species of Redpole Linnets of Dr. Coues are again 

 reduced to their primitive number. As, however, the dis- 

 tinctive characters, such as they are, are invariably stated 

 with accuracy and precision, it does not really make 

 much difference whether the forms are actually classed as 

 species or varieties. 



The three volumes of this elaborate work now before 

 us contain the whole of the Land Birds. A fourth volume, 

 shortly to be issued and to be devoted to the Water 

 Birds, will complete the undertaking. There can be no 

 doubt, as will be at once apparent to anyone who consults 

 the work, that it is of a most complete and exhaustive 

 character, and that it will fully sustain the well-known re- 

 putation of Prof. Baird and his fellow-labourers. 



OUR BOOK SHELF 

 Our Conniwn Insects. By A. S. Packard, jun. (Natura- 

 list's Agency, Salem, Mass.) 

 In this fully illustrated little work Mr. Packard, the 

 author of the excellent and much larger " Guide to the 



