Book News and Reviews 



177 



The Birds of Andover. Prepared by 

 Howard I. Ford. Published by the 

 School Department. The Andover 

 [Mass.] Press. 1900. lamo. 19 pages. 



This little pamphlet was prepared for the 

 use of the ''teachers and pupils in the An- 

 dover schools," and, the prefatory note 

 further states, its "chief aim is to give in- 

 formation of local value which cannot be 

 found in other handbooks." Having so 

 clearly in mind the principal office of a 

 local list, we are not surprised to find that 

 the author has succeeded in presenting his 

 facts in a definite, detailed, and still con- 

 densed manner. 



The form adopted, a ruled page with the 

 bird's name at the left and annotations in 

 succeeding columns and with blanks for 

 subsequent records, admits of the presenta- 

 tion of a large amount of information in a 

 small space and consequently at a small cost, 

 and we commend it, with the substance of 

 the list itself, to every one having in mind 

 the preparation of local lists for students. — 

 F. M. C. 



Birds I Have Seen. New York: Dodd, 

 Mead & Co. 1901. i6mo. 169 pages. 

 Price, 50 cts. 



This little book has been issued with 

 the admirable object of encouraging the 

 making of notes in the field. Under the 

 headings of "Dates," "Where Seen," 

 "Appearance," "Habits," "The Female," 

 "Its Note," etc., spaces are left to be 

 filled by the student. The book is of 

 convenient size and attractive appearance, 

 but it does not seem to us to have been 

 prepared by a person who has had actual 

 field experience in using a note-book of 

 this character. — F. M. C. 



Digest of Game Laws for 1901. Bulletin 

 No. 16, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 

 Division of Biological Survey. By T. S. 

 Palmer and H. W. Olds. Washington. 

 Government Printing Office. 1901. 8vo. 

 150 pages. 8 plates. 



This "is practically a complete digest of 

 existing federal, state and provincial laws 

 relating to the capture, shipments and sale 

 of game" (preface), and its publication by 

 the government as an official document 



gives to it an authoritativeness second only 

 to the laws themselves. 



The game laws of the land are thus made 

 so readily accessible that ignorance of their 

 provisions is inexcusable on the part of 

 either sportsmen, game dealers, or transpor- 

 tation companies. Of the latter, especially, 

 it may be said with truth that ' the game is 

 not worth the candle ' and once informed of 

 the requirements of the law they will make 

 no attempt to evade them. This bulletin, 

 therefore, will be welcomed by every one 

 interested in preserving our rapidly decreas- 

 ing game birds and mammals. — F. M. C. 



The Ornithological Magazines 



The Auk. — ' The Auk ' for July is with- 

 out an illustration for the first time in many 

 a day, containing, however, its usual array 

 of papers, reviews and notes. There is a 

 list of 91 summer 'Birds of the Black 

 Hills,' by Merritt Gary, and another of 42 

 'Winter Birds of Pea Island, N. C.,' 

 by Louis B. Bishop, both being of the 

 familiar annotated type. Some ' Unpub- 

 lished Letters of Wm. MacGillivray to 

 John James Audubon,' by Ruthven Deane, 

 will be read with interest. Herbert Brown 

 writes on 'Bendire's Thrasher,' dealing al- 

 most wholly with statistics of nests and 

 eggs, and several new races of birds are 

 described by various authors. 'The Resi- 

 dent Land Birds of Bermuda ' are discussed 

 by Outram Bangs and Thomas S. Bradlee, 

 who conclude that four of the seven indig- 

 enous birds are sufficiently distinct from 

 their continental brethren to be described as 

 new species. Lack of specimens for com- 

 parison of the other three species seems to 

 have saved Bermuda from being furnished 

 with a complete new local avifauna. 



A score of pages is devoted to a tenth 

 supplement to the A. O. U. check-list with 

 a fresh stirring about of names, the tenth 

 since 1886. The question suggests itself, 

 Might not more stability of nomenclature be 

 attained by less frequent rulings of the com- 

 mittee ? — quinquennial reports, for in- 

 stance. Newly described forms, like wine, 

 ought to improve or spoil by keeping and 

 other questions are not so pressing. Up-to- 



