September 14, 1SS3.] 



SCIENCE. 



357 



lords. It was only a step, indeed, fronn this 

 condition of things to the manorial system. 

 This step was taken immediately after the 

 permanent settlement of the Germans within 

 the limits of the Hoiiian empire. The land 

 system of the later empire was very much like 

 a manorial system. Sp it hai)pened, that, 

 wiiile the Germans wore approacliing tiiis sys- 

 tem on the one hand, the Komans were ap- 

 proaching it on the other. They reached it 

 together. 



This is the briefest possible risurm^ of Mr. 

 Seebohm's extremely interesting and valuable 

 book. The argument is well arranged and 

 very convincing. It is, perhaps, a little too 

 much cncuml)ered by details ; but we should 

 be sorry not to have these details, and the 

 book is (piite readable in spite of them. The 

 account of the manorial system is the most 

 comidete that we have. The book is a "mine 

 of information upon the suiiject. It will be 

 found indispensable to students. It is very 

 well printed, and illustrated by plates and 

 maps. It would be worth having for these 

 alone. In conclusion, we must heartily con- 

 gratulate the writer upon the completion of so 

 excellent and useful a work. 



STEARNS AND COURS' NEW-ENGLAND 

 BIRD-LIFE. 



New-England bird-life ; beinif a manual of Nfic- 

 Enijlanii ornillw!o(/i/. Revised and edited from the 

 manuscript of Winfrid A. Stearns, by Dr. 

 Elliott Coues. Boston, Lee Sc SliejmrJ, ISbl, 

 1SS.3. 3-24 + 409 p. Illustr. 8°. 



Under this title Mr. AVinfrid A. Stearns 

 and Dr. Elliott Coues have just produced an 

 excellent and much-needed work. Previous 

 to its appearance we have had no complete or 

 satisfactory exposition of tiie suliject, despite 

 several attempts on the i)art of inexperienced 

 or otherwise incompetent authors to cover the 

 interesting field : lieucc the present book is 

 doubly welcome. 



It has appeared in two volumes, or parts. 

 Tart i., issued two years ago, begins with 

 Turdidae, or thrushes, and carries the subject 

 through Oscines, ending with the family 

 C'orvidae. In addition to the 270 pages occu- 

 ))i('d by its main portion, tliere is an ' Intro- 

 duction ' of fifty |)nges, which includes useful 

 chapters on the elassifu-ation and structure of 

 birds ; the ' Preparation of specimens for 

 study ; ' the ' Sul>ject of faun.at areas ; ' and 

 the • l^iterature of New-Kngland ornithology.' 

 Including those devoted to its S[)ecial index 



as well as to the introduction, part i. contains 

 324 pages. 



Part ii. was published earl^- in the present 

 year. It has in all 4011 pages, of which ten 

 are occupied by an ' editor's preface,' and 

 eight by the index ; the remaining 397 pages 

 treating the general subject from Tyranuidae 

 through the successive families to Alcidae, last 

 and lowest in the scale of New-England bird- 

 life. Both volumes are rather copiousl}' illus- 

 trated with fairly good woodcuts ; some of 

 which are full-length (igiu'es, others represen- 

 tations of the heads, feet, wings, etc., of birds, 

 designed to show technical or distinguishiug 

 characters. Most of these cuts have done 

 similar duty before, but on this account they 

 are none the less useful in the present connec- 

 tion. 



The plan of the book is so clearly and 

 terseh' outlined in the preface to part i., that 

 we cannot do better tiian give it in the editor's 

 own words : — 



"It is tlie object of the present volume to go care- 

 fully over the whole groimd, and to present, in con- 

 cise and convenient fnrin. an epitome of the biid-life 

 of New England. The claims of each species to be 

 considered a member of the New-England fauna are 

 critically examined, and not one is admitted upon 

 insufficient evidence of its occurrence within this 

 area; the design being to give a thoroughly reliable 

 list of the binis. wUh an account of the leading facts 

 in the life-history of each species. The plan of the 

 work includes brief descriptions of the birds them- 

 selves, enabling one to identify any specimen he may 

 have in hand ; "the local distribution, migration, ami 

 relative abundance of every species; together with 

 as nnich general information respecting their habits 

 as caTi conveniently be bnmsht within the compass 

 of a hand-book of New-England ornithology." 



This plan is consistently and faithfully car- 

 ried out. The descriptions of the birds, to 

 be sure, are a little meagre and unsatisfactory 

 at tiines ; but it must be remembered that the}' 

 are intended primarily for a class of amateurs 

 who are not lilted, eitlier by experience or in- 

 clination, to wade through more exact, tech- 

 nical diagnoses. 



The biographical matter is written in the 

 editor's well-known and eminently character- 

 istic style, — a style not wholly free from 

 faults perlia])s, but, in the main, so finished 

 and picturestiue that it is sure to attract and 

 interest every lover of birds. In ihe present 

 ■ instance, the only fault we have to find with 

 these biograi)hies is that they arc often too 

 brief and general, — in short, that there is 

 too much condensation. Especially is this the 

 case among water-birds, wiiere the account of 

 habits, distribution, etc.. is frequently' crowded 

 into a few lines. IJoubtless this was necessary 



