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Fifty Common Birds of Vermont. By 

 Carlton D . Howe. Prepared for Teach- 

 ers and School Officers. Issued by the 

 Department of Education, Montpelier. 12 

 mo. Pages 92; numerous half-tones in 

 text. 



The Department of Education of the State 

 of Vermont has set an excellent example in 

 providing its teachers with a text-book on 

 the commoner birds of the state, while the 

 book itself may also serve as a model for 

 works of this kind. 



A Prefatory Note contains sections on 

 'The Economic Value of Birds,' ' How to 

 Attract the Birds,' and ' Instructions to 

 Teachers.' About a page is devoted to 

 each species, and in nearly every instance 

 this descriptive and biographical matter is 

 accompanied by an illustration. 



An admirable feature of the book is a 

 series of local lists from various parts of the 

 state, a nominal list of the birds of the 

 state, and an Information Bureau giving the 

 names of twenty-three persons who " will 

 give infoimation to teachers and pupils in 

 regard to the birds of their localities." — 

 F. M. C. 



How TO Know the Wild Birds of Illi- 

 nois. i6mo. Pages 100. 



How to Know the Wild Birds of Ohio. 

 i6mo. Pages 95. 



How to Know the Wild Birds of Mis- 

 souri. i6mo. Pages 95. 



How TO Know the Wild Birds of Indiana. 

 i6mo. Pages 64. 



By D. Lange. Educational Publish- 

 ing Company, Boston, New York, Chi- 

 cago, San Francisco. 



The booklets are designed to identify the 

 commoner birds of their respective states 

 and are evidently intended for school use. 

 A simple color key leads one to various 

 groups of land-birds, while the water-birds 

 are arranged according to their habits. 



Under each species is given a description 

 of the plumage, nest, notes and status in 

 the state in question. 



The introductory matter should set the 

 student on the way to a proper appreciation 

 of the rights of birds, and these booklets, 

 which will doubtless have a wide circulation, 

 should exert a most excellent influence. — 

 F. M. C. 



The Ornithological Magazines 



The Auk. — The contents of the July 

 'Auk' very fairly reflects current activities 

 in American ornithology. C. W. G. 

 Eifrig writes on the ' Canadian Neptune 

 Expedition to Hudson Bay and Northward' ; 

 H. C. Oberholser describes a Rocky Moun- 

 tain form of Helminthophila celata; Ruth- 

 ven Deane publishes some interesting letters 

 by Swainson to Audubon; A. F. Clark 

 tells of extirpated West Indian birds and 

 discusses the Lesser Antillean Macaws and 

 West Indian Conures. There are articles 

 on ' Warbler Migration in Southeastern 

 Louisiana and Southern Mississippi,' by H. 

 H. Kopman, and on the ' Winter Ranges 

 of Warblers,' by W. W. Cooke. Outram 

 Bangs revives the name Urubitinga gund- 

 lach'ii (Cabanis) for the Cuban Crab 

 Hawk; B. S. Bowdish lists forty species of 

 birds, represented by three hundred and 

 twenty-eight individuals from St. Paul's 

 Churchyard in the heart of lower New York 

 City, while in recording the purchase in 

 London of a Great Auk skin and three 

 eggs, John E. Thayer raises both the num- 

 ber of skins and eggs of this bird in this 

 country to five. — F. M. C. 



The Condor. — The May and July num- 

 bers of ' The Condor ' contain several con- 

 tinued articles and may therefore be noticed 

 together for the sake of convenience. Of 

 special interest to the general reader is a 

 series of four letters from eminent authorities 

 on 'The Future Problems and Aims of 

 Ornithology,' among which letters those of 

 Dr. Leonhard Stejneger and Mr. Wm. 

 Brewster will well repay careful perusal. 

 Dr. Stejneger makes a strong plea for work 



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