^1± 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XXII. No. 559 



Another volume asserts that eonsumption may be caused 

 by putting on spring clothing too early in the season ! 

 One also reads that cider-drinkers are peculiarly crabbed 

 and cross, that tobacco makes old men illnatured, that 

 sour milk is unwholesome, cheese is indigestible, poi-k is a 

 meat yiot fit to eat, and bile has the properties of baking 

 soda ? Here is a fish story told in the words of a highly 

 commended book: "The Esquimaux who live in Green- 

 land, drink one or two quarts of oil, and eat several 

 pounds of candles every day!" But see how a story will 

 ''grow" even in a scientific text-book. In the next num- 

 ber of the "series" written by the same author, and from 

 the same reliable notes, doubtless, we read, "An Esqui- 

 maux consumes about twenty pounds of blubber fat daily, 

 besides drinking several quarts of train oil." What it 

 will be in the next volume, who can tell ? 



As to the style and accuracy of these "scientific" trea- 

 tices, the following may be taken as samples : "The 

 eyeball is a bag (!) almost round, thick and dull every- 

 where but in front, where it has a transparent cover- 

 ing called the cornea, meaning a horn. This is fitted 

 into the eye just as a watch-crystal is fitted into a watch.'! 

 How lucid and true, now proceed, "The back chamber" 

 (of the eye) "also holds a jelly-like fluid, called the 'glassy 

 humor,' which allows the iris-curtain to float and move 

 freely." Who don't understand that much at least ? 



Another matter in connection with these physiologies 

 should receive attention. Many of them contain a state- 

 ment, printed in a prominent manner in the first portion 

 of the book, that they contain "afyllandfair treatmant of 

 the nature and effects of al'^oholic drinks and othernarcotics in 

 connection with relative Physiology and Hygiene." When 

 the books are examined, however, the ''full and fair treat- 

 ment" dwindles into statements true and imaginary, of 

 the evil efllects of alcohol on the body. There is no effort 

 at all made to discuss the different effects of large and 

 small doses, of the effects on a full and on an empty stom- 

 ach, of individual idiosynerasies and not a word of the bene- 

 ficial effects of alcohol and narcotics when properly used. 

 There can be no doubt but this unfair, unscientific and 

 untruthful manner of presenting this subject is having 

 an effect, exactly the reverse to that which is intended. 

 Children will soon find out that they have been deceived, 

 and the result will be worse than if nothing had been 

 said at all on the subject. 



The strictures here noted apply to the books used in 

 the j)ublic schools, and to a very limited extent to those 

 used in academies and colleges. 



BIEDS OP EAEE OCCUEEENCE IN NOETHEEN 

 COLOEADO. 



BY ■mNI. OSBURN, NASHVILLE, TENN. 



CoLOKADO is prolific in bird life. There the eastern and 

 western forms converge. There mountain, valley, wood- 

 land, lake and barren plain, contribute their peculiar 

 species, thus furnishing to the student a field most varied. 

 When observers have completed the record, their labors 

 will probably show a list approaching four hundred sjDe- 

 cies and varieties. 



During the years 1888, 1889 and 1890 I had opportu- 

 nity to study the avi-fauna of a small section of the 

 State. My field of observation was Larimer County, with 

 Loveland, Colorado, as headquarters. Lov eland is about 

 seventy-five miles north of Denver, in the midst of 'a rich 

 farming section, with the foothills some six miles to the 

 west and the open plains a few miles east. Durirg the 



period named two hundred and forty-one species and 

 varieties were observed. All but a very few of these were 

 actually taken in the field ; their skins were preserved, 

 and such data recorded as sex, measurements, color of 

 iris, contents of stomach, etc. From this list I have se- 

 lected ten birds which to me proved of unusually rare 

 occurrence. Their enumeration may be of interest to 

 other observers. It is not improbable that a few of these 

 have hitherto escaped observation in the locality named 

 and contiguous parts. 



Micropalama hiinaniopus. Stilt Sandpiper. Occasion- 

 ally met with during the spring migration, in May and 

 early June. ■ 



Fediocaetes phasianellus campestris. Prairie Sharp-tailed 

 Grouse. This bird was formerly quite abundant. 



Accipiter atricapillus. American Goshawk. A male of 

 this species was caj)tured on February 26, 1889, at Arkins, 

 Colorado. A female was taken in the same locality on 

 March 5. The male was much darker than the female, 

 and with finer markings on the under parts, answering to 

 the description of variety striatulus. Mr. Wm. G. Smith, 

 a careful observer of birds, reported at the time that he 

 had not seen a specimen of this hawk during five years 

 residence. In his "Key to North American Birds " Dr. 

 Elliott Coues says : "It breeds in mountainous regions as 

 far south at least as Colorado, where I have seen it in 

 summer. 



Bubo virginianus arcticus. Arctic Horned Owl. A fine 

 Horned Owl, which I have referred to this variety, was 

 shot in the mountains and brought to me on Nov. 29, 

 1890. It was nearly white. A dissection revealed a large 

 tape-worm in the back, above the intestines. 



C'llaptes auratus. Flicker. A typical Flicker was taken 

 during the fall migration, September 24, 1889. While 

 the hybrid form, exhibiting every conceivable gradation 

 between auratus and cafer, is quite abundant, yet a typical 

 auratus is seldom observed. 



Scolecophagus caroUnus. Eusty Blackbird. One speci- 

 men was taken in November, 1889. No other observation 

 recorded. 



Zonotrichia coronala. Golden-crowned Sparrow. Con- 

 cerning the habitat of this species, Dr. Coues makes the 

 following record : " Pacific coast (to Eocky Mountains ?) 

 from Alaska to Southern California." A small flock of 

 these birds spent the winter of 1889 in a thicket along 

 the Big Thompson. They were associated with Interme- 

 diate Sparrows. One specimen was taken on Febru- 

 ary 23. 



Dendroicagracice. Grace's Warbler. During the spring 

 migration of 1889 a small flock of this species was seen 

 near the foothills. One specimen, taken April 25, is in 

 the writer's possession. 



Cistothorus palustris. Long-billed Marsh Wren. Two 

 specimens were taken in March, 1889. Its occurrence is 

 ajjparently not common. 



Among others collected, the following may be named as 

 more common than the preceding, yet only met with oc- 

 casionally: Golden-crowned Kinglet, Wilson's Warbler, 

 White-throated Swift, Cedar Waxwing, Slate-colored 

 Junco, House Finch, Arizona Goldfinch, Pallid Horned 

 Lark, Woodhouse's Jay, Hammond's Flycatcher, Alpine 

 Three-toed Woodi^ecker, Pigmy Owl, Prairie Falcon, Eich- 

 ardson's Merlin and American Golden Plover. 



— " Our Own Birds," by Wm. L. B^ley, published by J. 

 B. LiiDpincott Company, is an excellent little manual for 

 those who wish to become familiar with the common birds 

 of this country. It contains a number of half-tone full- 

 page illustrations, with others in the text. 



