iSooft J^etos and jl^ciJtctDS 



The Story of a Bird Lover. By 

 William Earl Dodge Scott. New 

 York: The Outlook Company. 1903. 

 xi + 372 pages; i plate. Price, $1.50. 



This is an exceedingly interesting book. 

 From a wide and varied experience as 

 a field ornithologist whose labors extend 

 over a period of some thirty years, Mr. 

 Scott has here presented what appears 

 to have been best worth preserving. In 

 the main the book is a personal history of 

 the author's life, with a recountal of the 

 more important events in his career, and a 

 description of the localities he has visited, 

 with an outline of what was accomplished 

 in them. For details the reader is re- 

 ferred to the author's scientific papers, a 

 bibliography of which is given as an 

 appendix. 



Mr. Scott has worked chiefly in Florida, 

 New Jersey, Missouri, West Virginia, 

 Colorado, Arizona and Jamaica. He 

 first visited Florida in 1876 and returned to 

 the state at intervals until 1892. It was in 

 the early part of this period that Florida 

 birds were first systematically attacked by 

 plume hunters, and Mr. Scott's ' Story ' 

 contains some graphic descriptions of 

 Florida bird-life both before and after the 

 feather dealers devastated its teeming 

 rookeries. 



In his concluding chapter Mr. Scott refers 

 to his observations on birds in confinement, 

 and presents in a suggestive manner the 

 possibilities for research in this direction. 

 For reference purposes the book's value is 

 decidedly impaired by the absence of the 

 index which it deserves. — F. M. C. 



A Popular Handbook of the Birds of 

 THE United States and Canada. By 

 Thomas Nuttall. New Revised and 

 Annotated Edition. By Montague 

 Chamberlain. With additions and one 

 hundred and ten illustrations in color. 

 Boston: Little, Brown & Co. 1903. 

 i2mc). Pages xliv +473 + ix +431 Col. 

 pll. 20; numerous text-cuts. Price, $3. 



The publication of an edition of Nuttall 

 at a price which places the admirable bird 



biographies of this writer within the reach 

 .of every one should be a cause for rejoicing 

 among all bird lovers. This is a reprint of 

 the second edition of the two-volume edi- 

 tion annotated by Montague Chamberlain 

 and published in 1896. The few western 

 species included in the original (1832) edi- 

 tion have been excluded, but the title has 

 not been amended accordingly, and one 

 might suppose that the book dealt with all 

 the birds of the United States rather than 

 those east of the Mississippi. The illustra- 

 tions include reproductions of drawings by 

 Audubon, Wilson, Ridgway, Seton and 

 others. The wood-cuts are still good, but 

 the process plates show the results of wear. 

 The color-work evidently does justice to the 

 originals and is good when they are. The 

 chestnut-breasted Tufted Puffin could well 

 have been spared; but one can afford to 

 pardon all shortcomings in the illustrations 

 for the pleasure of havingthe text. — F.M.C. 



My Woodland Intimates. By Effie 



Bignell. New York: The Baker and 



Taylor Company. i6mo. xi+241 

 pages. 



Mrs. Bignell's text, given in the ' Fore- 

 ward,' reads: "In writing the following 

 sketches, I have had in mind all to whom 

 such simple thoughts and quiet experiences 

 might appeal," and she has assuredly been 

 more than usually successful in imbuing 

 the written page with the spirit of out-of- 

 doors. Her birds are alive and in their 

 haunts as a part of the nature with which 

 she evidently has such keen and tender 

 sympathy. Not only should this book fulfil 

 its author's dearest hope of carrying "rest- 

 ful little messages" to " some one in sick- 

 room or city pent," but it should also bear 

 a message to those whose eyes are closed to 

 the beauty and interest in the common every- 

 day things about us. — F. M. C. 



The Ornithological Magazines 



The Auk. — The April 'Auk' contains 

 a number of readable articles both popular 



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