iSoofe ftfms and ^^ebtctofi; 



Birds. By A. H. Evans, M.A. The 

 Cambridge Natural History, Vol. IX. 

 London: Macmillan and Co., Limited. 

 New York : The Macmillan Company. 

 1899. 8vo, pages xvi + 635. Numer- 

 ous woodcuts in text. Price, S3. 50. 



The author of this compact volume has 

 essayed what he himself recognizes as the 

 "difficult and apparently unattempted 

 task of including in some six hundred 

 pages a short description of the majority 

 of the forms in many of the families, and 

 of the most typical or important of the 

 innumerable species included in the large 

 Passerine order." 



The book opens with a " Scheme of the 

 Classification Adopted," based on the sys- 

 tem proposed by Gadow, in which the 

 Arclucofiteryx stands at the bottom of 

 the list, followed by the Ostriches, Rheas, 

 and other struthious birds, while the 

 Finches are placed at the top. An intro- 

 duction of twenty-two pages treats of 

 feathers, color, the molt, the skeleton, 

 digestive organs, etc., classification, term- 

 inology, geographical variations, and migra- 

 tion, the handling of the last two subjects 

 being far from satisfactory. 



The remainder of the book is devoted to 

 a consideration of the birds of the world. 

 The matter is selected with excellent 

 judgment and is admirably put together, 

 the text having an originality and fresh- 

 ness not often found in compilations. The 

 author, however, is handicapped by lack 

 of space, and, except in monotypic fami- 

 lies, is, as a rule, obliged to generalize to 

 such an extent that the seeker for informa- 

 tion concerning certain species will usually 

 find only the characteristic habits of its 

 family given. But if the author has not 

 achieved entire success, he has, perhaps, 

 more nearly approached it fhan any of 

 his predecessors, and in his work we have 

 for the first time an authoritative hand- 

 book of the birds of the world, which is 

 sold at a low enough price to be within the 

 reach of every student. 



The illustrations, with the exception of 



H 



a comparatively few, which were taken 

 from duly credited sources, are by Mr. G. 

 E. Lodge, who, at his best, is, in our 

 opinion, one of the foremost of bird 

 artists. — F. M. C. 



The Feedinc; H.vhit of the Chipping Spar- 

 row, AN'u THE Winter Food of the 

 Chickadee. By Clarence M. Weed, 

 New Hampshire College, Agricultural 

 Experiment Station. 



In the first of these interesting papers. 

 Dr. Weed has introduced us directly into 

 the domestic life of a family of Chippies. 

 We have a view., for one day, of all their 

 affairs, both personal and domestic ; and 

 to many it must be a wonderful revelation. 

 It is fortunate for the birds that their 

 period of infancy is so short, as otherwise 

 their parents must utterly break down with 

 the task of filling their ever-open mouths. 

 Beginning at about 3:57 in the morning, 

 these devoted parents worked almost with- 

 out cessation till 7:50 in the evening, bring- 

 ing food to their four young on an average 

 of twelve times an hour ; or once every 

 five minutes. 



What would human parents think of such 

 work ? The question arises : When do 

 the old birds eat ? In the case of a nest of 

 this species watched by the writer on July 

 II, i8g8, feeding of the young ceased at 

 7:25 in the evening, when both parents flew 

 away. In twenty-five minutes, that is, at 

 7:50, the female parent (presumably) re- 

 turned and settled on the nest for the night. 

 At that time it was so dark that all other 

 birds had disappeared. It seems probable 

 that in this last twenty-five minutes the 

 parent birds filled their own stomachs for 

 the night. 



The second of these papers is of a more 

 prosaic character, but not the less interest- 

 ing or useful. We have here a record in 

 detail of the winter food of the Chickadee, 

 showing how largely it consists of those 

 minute insects, or their still more minute 



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