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Bird Friends. A Complete Bird Book 

 for Americans. By Gilbert H. Traf- 

 TON. Houghton Mifflin & Co., Boston 

 and New York. i2mo. xviii-t-330 pages; 

 plates and cuts. 



To write "a complete bird-book for 

 Americans" in three hundred and odd 

 pages is obviously an ambitious under- 

 taking, and if Mr. Trafton fails to accomp- 

 lish a task which we believe most authors 

 would consider impossible, he at least 

 comes as near success as his space permits. 



His book, in brief, is a practical dis- 

 sertation on the bird's place in nature and 

 its relations with man. He writes of the 

 migrations, songs, nesting habits, colors, 

 and plumage of birds, gives useful sug- 

 gestions on methods of study in the held, 

 including bird-study with a camera, where 

 we regret to see he does not mention the 

 importance of a blind if one would secure 

 not only pictures but intimate observa- 

 tions as well. 



This more purely ornithological matter 

 occupies the first sixty-two pages of the 

 book. Pages 63 to 173 are devoted to 

 economic ornithology with chapters on the 

 food of birds, their value to man, changes 

 in the numbers of birds, natural enemies of 

 birds, bird enemies introduced by man 

 (in which the cat is arraigned at length), 

 and man as an enemy of birds. 



Having stated the value of birds and 

 the various destructive agents which are 

 arrayed against them, Mr. Trafton 

 devotes the balance of his book to an 

 account of the various agencies which 

 directly or indirectly are working for 

 bird-protection. 



He writes in detail of the activities of 

 the National Association of Audubon 

 Societies, the national Government and 

 several representative bird clubs, and gives 

 instructions in regard to erecting bird- 

 houses, feeding-stations, planting, etc. 



His final chapter on methods of teach- 

 ing bird-study in the schools is one of the 

 most valuable in the book. Mr. Trafton 

 has had wide experience in this field and 



his outlines of study for the first to eighth 

 grades contain much original and sug- 

 gestive material. — F. M. C. 



A Year With the Birds. By Alice 

 E. Ball. With 56 colored plates b} 

 Robert Bruce Horsfall. Gibbs & Van 

 Vleck, New York City. 1916. 8vo. 

 191 pages. 



This book is an unusual and most attrac- 

 tive combination of ornithology, poetry 

 and art. It treats in verse of the more 

 prominent characteristics of color, form, 

 or song of over fifty common birds ar- 

 ranged according to their season. 



We have first, therefore, winter birds 

 which in turn are followed by those of 

 spring, summer and autumn. 



It is believed by the author, and no 

 doubt with truth, that through the me- 

 dium of rhyme and rhythm she can reach 

 the child mind more effectively than if 

 the same information were presented in 

 prose. She exhibits excellent judgment in 

 the selection of her material and no small 

 degree of skill in giving it an attractive 

 literary setting. Her efforts to picture the 

 bird in nature are well seconded by Mr. 

 Horsfall whose drawings depict the sub- 

 jects chosen in their haunts and, at times, 

 notably with the Chickadee and Tree 

 Sparrow, reveal genuine sentiment. — 

 F. M. C. 



Audubon Pocket Bird Collection. 

 Case No. i. Permanent Resident and 

 Winter Visitant Land Birds of the 

 northeastern United States (63 figures). 

 Case No. 2. Winter Visitant and Per- 

 manent Resident Land Birds of south- 

 eastern United States (82 figures). 

 Arranged by Frank M. Chapman. 

 Drawn by E. J. Sawyer, for the National 

 Association of Audubon Societies. Price, 

 10 cents each. 



The National Association of Audubon 

 Societies has recently issued two hand- 

 some pocket folders of colored pictures of 

 birds which embody a new idea in bird- 

 study. Each folder represents a museum 

 exhibition case in which the birds are 



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