THE OOLOGIST. 



187 



i.-.-asi():is; bib the d ull-eolored "Sand- 

 bird" is too small for tin- gunncn-, while 

 his little nest but seldom (•(mies uiidev 

 the observation of the rapacious Hsher- 

 man as he gathers his boatload of eggs. 



TlIEODO]{E VV. RiCIIAKDS, 



Washington, D. C. 

 Book Review. 



North American Birds.— H. Neiikling. 



4-to. Milwaiikee. Wis., Published by Geor-ie 

 Brumder. Part III. 



Nehi-Iing's North American Birds is 

 published in twelve parts of fi-om 

 forty to forty-eigiit pages each and is 

 illustrated by thirty-si.\ t-oloretl plates 

 (three in each part.) This excellent 

 work is so simply, beautifully and accu- 

 rately written as to render it, at the 

 same time, both highly scieiitilic and 

 generally popular. 



What little of technical matter there 

 is, is printed in smaller type at the end 

 of the biographies. The author says 

 what he has to say in a simple and vei-y 

 interesting manner, and relates his own 

 field-experiences in a very entertaining 

 style. But from the general to the 

 specific; Part 111. takes up the Gnat- 

 catchers and Kinglets where Part J I. 

 left them and hnisiies the family. It 

 opens with a life-like colored plate of 

 the nest of tiie Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 

 with the female on it (or in it) and the 

 male on an adjacent twig. 



The family Si/lviidae' is followed by 

 the Paridae and Certhiidae and the 

 Troglodytidae. which latter family is 

 not finished in Part III. The secrond 

 plate of this ))art represents a group of 

 Thrushes, inz. the Robin, Hermit 

 Thrusi), the Varied, Wilson's, Wood 

 and 01ive-])acked Thrushes; a ver3' 

 natural api»eai'ing and pretty group. 

 Some might think the Robin's breast a 

 tritle too bright of red, but if they do 

 let them saj- so; we will not speak for 

 them. The other plate presents a var- 

 ious grou]), comi)rising the Cedarbird, 

 Tufted Titmouse, Phoebe, Brown 

 Thrasher, Bluebird male, Bluebird 

 female and Song Sparrow. 



As to the biographies themselves, 

 thej" are given in such a pleasing and 

 poetical way as to make the work an 

 exceedingly entertaining one to the 

 general readci-. while the care and ac- 

 curacy with which they are written 

 make it of great value to the advanced 

 student of Ijirds. The twehe parts, 



when complete, will constitute a most 

 valuiil)le woik on the Birds of Ncu'th 

 America. 



[Note: Part II, although received 

 by ns many moons ago, has, through a 

 negligent oversight, been allowed to 

 l)ass unnoticed, [t will be spoken of 

 next number.] 



Birds in the Bush.— Bhaufoiu) Tokuey. 



In Riverside Library for Young People. Itoio. 

 Il.a5. Bofston: Houghton. Mifflin & Co., 1889. 



This is also written to suit the popu- 

 lar mind, as might be jiulged fnmi the 

 title. The author's opening cha))ter is 

 entitled "On Boston Common" and in 

 this chapter he tells his readers of the 

 many birds that may there be found, 

 contrary to the statements of many, 

 who assert that there are no longer any 

 l)irds in our city grounds. Boston 

 C<Hiimon, judging from what the author 

 finds there, is not a bad place for obser- 

 vation. 



The chapter on "Character in Feath- 

 ers" is a marvel in the way in which 

 hum;in temperaments and dispositions 

 are shown us in the birds. A most 

 l)leasing feature of the chapter "In the 

 White Mountains" is the mention made 

 of the White-throated Sparrow and the 

 remarks and descriptions made and 

 given concerning its song. 



Tiie titles of some of the other chap- 

 ters are: "Biinl Songs," "A Month's 

 Music," "Winter Birds about Boston" 

 and "A Bird-Lover's April," the last 

 mentioned beginning, as the author 

 states, on the 29th of March. This last 

 mentioned chapter is replete with the 

 pleasures which an ornithologist exper- 

 iences in waiting and looking for the 

 spring-birds and in recording their 

 ariivals. 



"Birds in the Bnsh" is a most valu- 

 able addition to the book-shelf of any 

 reader and to on(^ who is at all inter- 

 ested in the feathered folk it is doubly 



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