ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



25 



git* glimpse of a certain species might be all 

 that was vouchsafed tor many months.'' 



Beebe's description of some of the sequence 

 of events which lead to certain of his observa- 

 tions are most significant to the trained biolo- 

 gist. Certain insects emerged only after heavy 

 rains ; certain birds fed only on those insects ; 

 ergo, to observe the birds first find the insects 

 furnishing the repast. Or to locate the driver 

 ants one must listen for the notes of the. ant- 

 birds. And in turn one might then be reward- 

 ed with a glimpse of the white-fronted antcatch- 

 er which usually accompanied the driver ants. 



The use of the jungle pit (see figure 35) not 

 only gave the expedition material, but has given 

 the literary world one of the most delightful 

 bits of descriptive writing that it has had in 

 many a day (see "Jungle Peace." Chapter IX). 

 And in many other ways the inventiveness of 

 the laboratory-trained scientist shows out in this 

 chapter. 



One of the most interesting chapters is that 

 on the life of the hoatzins. The careful exper- 

 imental work, and the series of photographs 

 taken to illustrate the locomotion of the young 

 birds is of fascinating interest even to the lay- 

 men. His reference to the claws of the archae- 

 opteryx (page 1 7 1 ) shows the keenness of 

 Beebe's thought and the far-reaching activity of 

 his mind. Observations on "The Homes of Tou- 

 cans'' (Chapter XII) and on "The Ways of 

 Tinamou" (Chapter XV) are examples of his 

 delightful style and his keenness in research. 



The chapters by Hartley are worthy contri- 

 butions to our knowledge of the development of 

 some of the tropical birds. Chapter twenty- 

 three on the perai fish is of particular signifi- 

 cance to me because of my own interest in the 

 life habits of this fish, the observations which I 

 personally made while at Kalacoon being con- 

 firmed in this chapter. 



Howes, whose artistic ability is shown in the 

 admirable plates of the wasps, has made a last- 

 ing contribution to the insect life of the tropics. 

 Of peculiar interest is his chapter on "Con- 

 trolled Pupation" in which he describes the life 

 history as he saw it of the vermillion-nut fly 

 — a new species belonging to the family Trepe- 

 tidae and the genus Spilographa. 



The supplementary chapters by Walter G. 

 White, a chaplain stationed at Penal Settlement, 

 and by James Rodway, the curator of the 

 Georgetown Museum, are interesting additions 

 to this noteworthy book. 



The illustrations of the book are largely di- 

 rect reproductions of photographs taken by 

 Howes and Beebe. and represent hours and days 



of the most careful, painstaking and artistic 

 work. To me, as a wanderer in this same jun- 

 gle, the photographs bring back vividly many 

 of the wonders of that territory — albeit the 

 colors and grandeur of those forest aisles of 

 straight-boled trees can hardly be reproduced. 



The press work and typography of the book 

 are unusually good, characteristic of the publi- 

 cations of the New York Zoological Society. 



Altogether, this volume is a noteworthy 

 contribution to the scientific literature of the 

 tropics. 



Theodore Roosevelt at the close of his intro- 

 duction to the volume, writes "Mr. Beebe and 

 his associates, Messrs. Hartley and Howes, have 

 not only done a first class job, but they have 

 pointed out the way into what is probably the 

 most fruitful field for original and productive 

 biological investigation." 



The field of scientific research covered in this 

 volume can best be indicated by the actual 

 table of Contents which follow: 



Part I — By William Beebe 

 Establishment of the Tropical Research Station. 

 Historical Bartica. 

 The Naturalists of Bartica District. 

 The General Field of Work. 

 The Open Clearing and Secondgrowth. 

 The Jungle and Its Life. 

 The Bird Life of Bartica District. 

 List of the Birds of Bartica District. 

 Akawai Indian and Colonial Names of Birds 



and Mammals of Bartica. 

 Methods of Research. 



Further Notes on the Life History of Hoatzins. 

 The Homes of Toucans. 

 Ornithological Discoveries. 

 Young Gray-backed Trumpeters. 

 The Ways of Tinamou. 

 Wild Life near Kalacoon. 

 The Alligators of Guiana. 



Part II — By G. Inness Hartley 



Notes on the Development of the Jacana. 



Notes on the Development of the Smooth- 

 billed Ani. 



Notes on a Few Embryos. 



Nesting Habits of the Gray-breasted Martin. 



Preliminary Notes on the Development of the 

 Wing. 



Notes on the Perai Fish. 



Part HI — By Paul G. Howes 



The Bees and Wasps of Bartica. 

 Two Potter Wasps. 



