94 



THE OOLOGIST. 



now g:enerally favored, namely of j)ut- 

 tiug the lowest forms first. The ar- 

 i-angemeut of the fishes is essentially 

 that of Jordan and Gilbert's "Synopsis 

 of the Fishes of North America;" the 

 arrangement of the Batrachians and 

 Reptiles is essentially that set forth in 

 the various papers of Prof. Edward D. 

 Cope; Avhile in the nomenclature and 

 (.'lassification of the Birds, the author 

 adopts the "Check List of North Amer- 

 ican Birds," published by the American 

 Ornithologists' Union. 



The work covering 375 pages Avith 

 index, enumerates 487 species of fishes, 

 48 species of l^atrachians, 95 of reptiles, 

 403 of birds and 117 of mam.mals. 



A fair idea of the plan of the work 

 can best b» given by quotations from 

 it. The foUoAving will give some idea: 



"Class E. Pisces. Subclass Selachii. 

 Order Baiae (The Rays.) Family P/-is- 

 iididae (The Saw-fishes.) Genus Pfistis 

 (Latham) 24 P. pectinatus Latham. 

 Saw-Fish. 



SaAV with 25 to 28 pairs of spines. 

 Length 10 feet. West Indies; occasion- 

 al N. (Lat., comb-toothed.)" 



"Class H. Aves. Order Pj'ct. (The 

 Woodpeckers and Wrynecks.) Family 

 Picidae (The Woodpeckers.) Genus 

 C.olax>tes (Swainsou.) 852. C. auralus 

 (L.) Yellow-Hammer. Flicker. Gol- 

 den-Avinged Woodpecker. High-Holder. 

 Head ashy, Avith red nuchal crescent; 

 back drab-color, barred Avith black; 

 rump Avhite; beloAV pinkish broAvn shad- 

 ing into yellowish; a black crescent on 

 breast; belly Avith numerous round 

 black spots; shafts and under surfaces 

 of quills golden yelloAv; male with a 

 black maxillary patch. Length 12^. 

 Wing 6. Tail 4^. Eastern North 

 America, abundant." 



The student will at once see the A'alue 

 of such a Avork. Speaking only of the 

 treatment given the class Aves, it is too 

 valuable a Avork for any ornithologist, 

 (experienced or amateur) to be Avith- 

 out. One thing with Avhich many bird 

 students all OA^er the country are unfa- 

 miliar, is the classification of our birds. 

 Oftentimes, those Avho have an excel- 

 lent knoAvledge of ornithology (specific- 

 ally speaking) are lost Avhen they come 

 to tell to Avhat family or order a given 

 species belongs. 



The Avoik under consideration is just 

 Avhat every bird student needs to over- 

 come these difficulties as Avell as to 

 readily identify any specimen of doubt- 

 ful identity. 



One thing that strikes us as almost 



marvelous, is the amount of knoAvledge 

 that is croAvded into a small space. 

 1145 species are treated of thoroughly 

 and minutely, enabling anyone to 

 identify specimens readily therefrom, 

 and all inside of 375 pages. 



Everything is concise, sufficient, to 

 the point, and just what every student 

 of any of the forms of. the Vertebrata 

 should have by him for ready refer- 

 en(;e. 



Methods in the Art of Taxidermy. 



We desire to call the special attenti(m 

 of the readers of The Oologist to Mr. 

 Oliver Davie's neAv Avork "Methods in 

 the Art of Taxidermy". 



Mr. Davie is well and favorably 

 known to American Ornithologists and 

 Oologists as a publisher that always ■ 

 glA'es his patrons two hundred cents on a 

 dollar. 



The original plates for his ncAV Avork 

 have cost him $1,000 in cash. We have 

 had the privilege of examining 40 of 

 them and must say that they alone 

 without text make the Art so plain that 

 if you could see them Ave are certain 

 you would quickly give $5.00 for dupli- 

 cates. Mr. Davie has already deA'oted 

 six years of time and labor on this 

 Avork, and now to publish 500 cojiies as 

 he proposes Avill cost him $2,500 in 

 CASH. Already he has received sub- 

 scriptions for 100 copies but before he 

 can j)ublish the Avork he needs 400 

 more. We trust that he will find a 

 goodly portion of this number among 

 the readers of The Oologist. He asks 

 no money until the work is published. 

 Write him at once for subsciription 

 blank properly fill the same and return 

 it to him by next mail. To any of our 

 readers Avho Avill Avrite Mr. Davie for a 

 blank and properly fill the same, stat- 

 ing to him that they subscribe for his 

 Avork, through the recommendation of 

 the publisher of The Oologist, avc 

 Avill, if you are not more than pleased 

 with the Avork Avhen published, give 

 you $5.00 in cash for your copy and 

 present you Avith a years sul^scription 

 to The Oologist, for your trouble. 



We do not receive one cent from Mr.. 

 D. for making this offer; for writing 

 this article; or for the two page adv. in 

 this Oologist, but make and publish 

 the same for the benefit of our j)atrons 

 that they too can aid Mr. D. in complet- 

 ing this A^aluable work, from Avhieh he 

 anticipates no financial reAvard. 



