Book News and Reviews 



41 



will find eastern readers just as much 

 interested in his attractive stories of 

 Western bird-life if he calls his subjects 

 by their right names. — F. M. C. 



The Development of Nestling Feath- 

 eks. By Lvnds Jones. Laboratory 

 Bulletin No. 13, Oberlin College, Ober- 

 lin, Ohio, 1907. 8vo. 18 pages, VIII 

 plates. 



Professor Jones states that the studies 

 on which this paper is based were made 

 for the purpose of giving "a more com- 

 plete account of the development of the 

 down, or neossoptile, than has been given 

 by previous writers, and to show the true 

 relation of this structure to the first 

 definitive feathers." 



After explaining the methods employed 

 in the preparation of material, the develop- 

 ment of the feather germ and of the barbs 

 and barbules is described, and the relation 

 of the down to the first definitive feather 

 is discussed, the conclusion being reached 

 that "the first down and its succeeding 

 definitive feather are produced by one con- 

 tinuous growth, and therefore cannot be 

 regarded as two distinct feathers." 



Professor Jones' paper is an important 

 contribution to the histology of feather 

 growth and we trust he will follow it 

 with one on the taxonomic value of the 

 characters shown by the neossoptile. — 

 F. M. C. 



Gray Lady and the Birds; Stories of 

 the Bird Year for Home and School. 

 By Mabel Osgood Wright. New York. 

 The Macmillan Co., 1907. nmo. xx + 

 437 pages; 48 full-page plates, 12 colored. 

 Mrs. Wright has succeeded in weaving 



into the narrative of a story well designed 

 to hold the attention of juvenile readers a 

 surprising amount of information in 

 regard to birds, much of which, it may be 

 added, is not to be found in the popular 

 bird books. The following chapter or 

 subject headings will give an indication 

 of the book's contents: The bird— what 

 is it?; Migrations; Molting; What the 

 birds do for us and what we should do for 

 them; Bird protection; Housing; Feeding; 

 Feathers and Hats; The Procession Passes; 



The Flight of theBirds; Hawks and Owls; 

 Tree-Trunk Birds; Game Birds; Winter 

 Birds; Spring Birds; May Birds. 



In the arrangement of matter and the 

 method of treatment the author has had 

 the needs of teachers in mind; indeed it 

 was the success of a pamphlet written 

 for distribution by the Connecticut Au- 

 dubon Society to the teachers of Con- 

 necticut that induced Mrs. Wright to 

 prepare this volume. 



Most of the illustrations, including 

 the twelve colored ones, have appeared 

 in the Educational Leaflets of the National 

 Association of Audubon Societies; some 

 are from 'Citizen Bird;' others are from 

 Bird-Lore and four of the most inter- 

 esting are by Dr. C. F. Hodge. 



Mrs. Wright also acknowledges her 

 indebtedness to various writers for quo- 

 tations from their works, while the Gray 

 Lady herself presents the subject of bird 

 study in so attractive a way that she will 

 be sure to win the attention and interest 

 of many children who might be repelled 

 by* exactly the same matter less skilfully 

 handled.— F. M. C. 



Birds as Conservators of the Forest. 

 By F. E. L. Beal. Rep. N. Y. Forest, 

 Fish and Game Commission. 1902-3; 

 pp. 236-274; 14 full-page colored plates. 



Mr. Beal quotes Dr. A. D. Hopkins, 

 who is in charge of Forest Insect Investi- 

 gations in the Bureau of Entomologv of 

 the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture, to the effect that the ''annual loss 

 from insect work on forest trees, and their 

 crude and finished products, amounts to 

 at least one hundred million dollars." 

 As a complementary statement, Mr. 

 Beal adds "One very important means 

 which Nature has provided for the 

 restriction of these pests within reasonable 

 bounds is found in the insect-eating birds, 

 many species of which spend most of their 

 lives upon trees, and subsist upon the 

 insects found thereon." The memoir is 

 devoted to the birds of this class, the 

 food habits and economic value of Wood- 

 peckers, Titmice, Nuthatches, the Brown 

 Creeper, the Warblers, Kinglets, Cuckoos 

 and Vireos being discussed at length. 



