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Everyday Birds. Elementary Studies by 

 Bradford Torrey. With 12 illustra- 

 tions in colors after Audubon and 2 from 

 Photographs. Boston and New York: 

 Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 1901. i2mo. 

 106 pages. Price, $1. 



Mr. Torrey here writes for young people 

 of two dozen or more common birds and of 

 some phases of bird-life in a manner, it 

 seems to us, well adapted to claim the 

 youthful observer's attention and to make 

 him call for "more." At the best there is 

 such a vast difference between the bird in 

 the bush and the bird in the book that 

 there is often danger too much of the latter 

 may rob the child of his interest in the 

 former, and one is thankful, therefore, 

 when the birds find an interpreter as well 

 equipped as Mr. Torrey. 



The illustrations, reproduced by the three- 

 color process from Audubon's plates, are 

 interesting and, as far as we can judge 

 without direct comparison with the origi- 

 nals, most of them seem to be surprising!)' 

 successful. — F. M. C. 



Haddom Hall Library. Bird Watching. 

 By Edmund Selous. London: J. M. 

 Dent & Co. 1901. [New York: The 

 Macmillan Co. Price, I3.00.] i2mo. 

 xi + 347 pages; 6 full-page photograv- 

 ures; numerous text cuts. 



The ideal student of birds in nature, or 

 "bird watcher," as Mr. Selous terms him, 

 must be a patient, conscientious, unpreju- 

 diced and skilled observer, with a training 

 which will tell him what are the essential 

 things to be looked for and what is the 

 significance of things seen, and, most im- 

 portant of all, since without it science 

 gains nothing from his labors, he must 

 have the power to record his observations 

 in such a manner that they become avail- 

 able to others — a contribution to the store 

 of human knowledge. 



To the ornithologist who aspires to reach 

 this high standard we commend Mr. Selous' 

 volume. Its author's methods of work, 

 mode of reasoning and rare gift of descrip- 



tion make his book an addition to the 

 literature of ornithology, as well as to 

 that of general ecology, of unusual merit. 

 While the range of his observations covers 

 many phases of bird-life, he appears — 

 and with good reason — to have been es- 

 pecially attracted by the often remarkable 

 actions of birds during the pairing season, 

 and his observations on the subject of sex- 

 ual selections are of peculiar value. 



Although Mr. Selous writes only of 

 British birds, many of the water birds 

 treated are found in this country ; but the 

 matter of species is here a secondary con- 

 sideration, and we call the attention of 

 American readers to this book because we 

 believe its perusal will be of real assistance 

 to them in studying the habits of wild 

 birds.— F. M. C. 



The Birds of Springfield and Vicinity. 

 By Robert O. Morris. Henry R. John- 

 son, Springfield, Mass. 1901. 8vo. 54 

 pages. I map. 



This list enumerates 254 species as known 

 to occur within a radius of 25 miles of 

 Springfield, exclusive of five species, which 

 have been introduced. Only one of the 

 latter (the House Sparrow, it is almost 

 needless to say) continues to exist, Euro- 

 pean Quail, Prairie Hens, Prairie Sharp- 

 tailed Grouse and European Starlings 

 having disappeared after their release. Of 

 the latter it is said that about 100 were 

 liberated in the spring of 1897. "Three of 

 these were alive and well early the follow- 

 ing spring, but since then I have not seen 

 or heard of any of them" (p. 42) ; a rather 

 surprising failure in view of the success 

 which has attended the introduction of this 

 species in New York city. 



The annotations duly credit the observa- 

 tions of former observers, and the list is a 

 welcome contribution to faunal literature. 

 It is attractively printed, and we are par- 

 ticularly glad to see that it is issued as a 

 special publication, and is thus accessible 

 to any one desiring to secure it. — F. M. C. 



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