THE NIDIOLOGIST 



113 



" Beside the Marsh," are the titles 

 of a few of the chapters. Cloth, 237 

 pages and index; $1.25. Houghton, 

 Mifflin & Co., Publishers, Boston. 



NuttalVs Ornithology, as revised 

 and annotated by Montague Cham- 

 berlain, has before now been ac- 

 corded recognition as a standard 

 " Handbook," but many of our read- 

 ers will appreciate a short descrip- 

 tion of this rehabilitated classic. 

 American orni4;hology has been all 

 but revolutionized since the days 

 when Nuttall wrote his charming 

 descriptions. Classifications, nomen- 

 clature — much of our working gear 

 of science to-day would appear 

 strange indeed to Nuttall were he 

 to return. To retain the old and 

 valuable, while bringing the subject 

 matter up to date, has been Mr. 

 Chamberlain's pleasant task. Nut- 

 lall's writings are like old wine, 

 never losing their flavor,- for which, 

 we were about to say, the editor has 

 supplied a new cask; but the figure 

 would here become more fanciful 

 than true, for great credit must be 

 given to Mr Chamberlain for the 

 scope and value of his annotations; 

 also to Mr. Ernest Thompson for a 

 large number of the illustrations, 

 from drawings made by him espe- 

 cially for this work. 



Land and water birds receive mention which occur 

 within the Eastern Faunal Province, from the Gulf of 

 Mexico to the Arctic Ocean. As Nuttall knew very 

 little of Western birds, only a few short chapters have 

 been Iqst by restricting tiie present work to Eastern 

 forms. The introduction is given exactly as it ap- 

 peared in Nuttall's second edition, and the text of the 

 biographical matter has been changed but little. Mr. 

 Chamberlin's notes follow each chapter in a smaller 

 type, that they may be readily distinguished. De- 

 scriptions of plumage have been rewritten, well-known 

 and untechnical terms being used as far as possible. 

 A description of the nests and eggs of each species 

 has also been added. Cloth ; 416 pages and index ; 

 $5 (net). Little, Brown & Co., Publishers, Boston. 



Auks and their Allies, is the subject of a compre- 

 hensive paper by Dr. R. W. Shufeldt in the Popular 

 Science News for March. Two large and excellent 

 illustrations, by the author, of the Whiskered Auk- 

 let and the Great Auk accompany the article. 



The Museum for March contains an interesting 

 article by J. H. Bowles on the Whip-poor-will. All of 

 his sets of eggs were discovered by his dog flushing 

 the bird. Time and patience is necessary to train the 

 dog, who must also be taught, he says, '"to tliink an 

 egg a combination of white lead, strychnine, and 

 cayenne pepper." 



Mr. Bowles answers the question, "How Do Goat- 

 suckers Carry their Young and Eggs ?" as follows : 



" Several years ago I flushed a Whip-poor-will that 

 rose with a baby bird clutched firmly betiveen her 

 thighs'. Careful examination of the ground disclosed 

 three quarters of an eggshell, which, being moist, 

 showed that it had been recently hatched. This does 

 not necessarily disprove the gape theory, as she may 

 have had another young one or egg in her mouth to 

 preserve the equilibrium; but I doubt it, as this was 

 a second set. Returning a week later, I again flushed 



HARLEQUIN DUCKS. (From '"Nuttalfs Ornithology:') 



the old bird from her young one at a short distance 

 from the first place. He was then well grown ; so, 

 thinking affairs might take an interesting turn, I sat 

 down and watched at a short distance. The mother 

 bird did all in her power to induce the little one to 

 move away. She went up to it, withdrew a few inches, 

 and then shoved it away from me with her breast, in 

 exactly the same way I have seen the English Sparrow 

 do." 



Ernest W. Vickers, in the March Oologist, de- 

 cribes a singular nesting site of the Phoebe {Sayornis 

 phcebe), the nest being built on a |-inch cotton rope, 

 which was stretched at an angle of 42 degrees by ex- 

 act measurement. The size of the nest was unusual, 

 the greatest height being 7.50 inches ; greatest width, 

 4.75 inches ; depth of cavity, i inch ; diameter of 

 cavity, 2.50 inches. The structure was so evenly bal- 

 anced that when the mother bird alighted upon it it 

 scarcely moved. Mr. Vickers is led to ask: "Was 

 this nice balancing of the nest the work of 'accident' 

 or ' chance,' or was it a display of ' instinct ' elevated 

 to the border land of ' reason ? ' " 



The revised A. 

 until the fall. 



O. U. check list will not be out 



Dr. Louis B. Bishop, of New Haven, Conn., leaves 

 in April for a several months' collecting trip in 

 northern Wyoming. 



The latest report received from the Cooper Orni- 

 thological Club has, to our regret, been mislaid, and 

 will appear in our next. 



