iloofe i^eto0 anti l^eUtctos 



Michigan Bird Life; A List of all the 

 Bird Species known to occur in the State 

 together with an outline of their Classi- 

 fication and an account of the Life His- 

 tory of Each Species, with special refer- 

 ence to its Relation to Agriculture. With 

 seventy Full-page Plates and one hundred 

 and fifty-two Text Figures. By Walter 

 Bradford Barrows, S. B., Professor 

 of Zoology and Physiology and Curator 

 of the General Museum. Special Bul- 

 letin of the Department of Zoology and 

 Physiology of the Michigan Agricul- 

 tural College. Published by the Michi- 

 gan Agricultural College, 191 2. 8vo., 

 xiv + 822 pages. Price, paper, 45 

 cents; cloth, 60 cents; transportation, 

 35 cents. Applications should be sent 

 to Secretary A. M. Brown, East Lan- 

 sing, Mich. 



As the title indicates, this is a complete 

 work on the birds of the area it covers, 

 and, so far as text is concerned, it at 

 once takes its place among the notable 

 books on the birds of a state. 



An introduction of thirty-pne pages 

 treats of 'Topography,' 'Climate,' 'Dis- 

 tribution of Plant Life,' 'Distribution of 

 Animal Life,' 'Bird Life in Michigan,' 

 'Recent Changes in the Bird Life of the 

 State,' 'How to Study Birds,' and 'Migra- 

 tion,' while Appendices contain a 'Hypo- 

 thetical List,' 'Bibliography,' 'Glossary,' 

 'Outline of Classification,' and 'List of 

 Contributors,' the last, including some 214 

 names, shows the many sources on which 

 Professor Barrows has drawn for informa- 

 tion, and is an index of the thoroughness 

 of his work. 



The body of the book (pp. 33-729) is 

 devoted to the biographies of the 325 

 species and subspecies (plus one in 

 Appendix I) which are accorded rank as 

 Michigan birds. Here we have keys to 

 orders, families and species, descriptions 

 of plumage, and outline of general range, 

 a \ detailed, historical statement of the 

 bird's status and manner of occurrence in 

 Michigan, with data on food, voice, nest- 

 ing habits, etc.; all of which, it is obvious, 

 make the book of value everywhere and 

 indispensable in Michigan. 



Professor Barrows evidently has small 

 use for the students of birds through an 

 opera-glass but believes "that the student 

 who searches the woods carefully for a 

 bird which he has never seen, who follows 

 up each unknown call or song, watches 

 with care each doubtful and illusive 

 form which suggests the bird desired, and 

 finally, perhaps after hundreds of dis- 

 appointments, kills a specimen of the 

 much-coveted species and measures, pre- 

 serves and labels it for his collection, has 

 gained a knowledge of the appearance, 

 habits, notes, size and structure of this 

 species which could be obtained in no 

 other possible way" (p. 13). That a 

 better knowledge of "size" and "struc- 

 ture" may be gained by killing a bird 

 than by permitting it to live is true 

 enough, but the very fact that it has been 

 killed makes it also equally true that all 

 opportunity for that intimate study of 

 "appearance," "habits," and "notes" 

 which (as Professor Barrow's book itself 

 shows) we so greatly need, ends with the 

 bird's life. 



No bird student armed with a gun stops 

 to study the notes, habits, or appearance 

 of some rare or strange bird. The desire 

 for acquisition is too strong. Professor 

 Barrows quotes Dr. Coues on the needless 

 slaughter of bird-life, but he will remem- 

 ber that it was Coues who wrote "I fear 

 I must tell you to shoot an unknown 

 bird on sight." There was more excuse 

 for saying this thirty years ago than 

 there is today, but are we never to pass 

 the stage where students who prefer to 

 study living birds rather than dead ones 

 may do so without killing them? 



Professor Barrows endorses the require- 

 ment that the "record" of any species for 

 a given locality should rest upon an 

 actual specimen taken in that locality, 

 but surely ornithology consists of some- 

 thing more than making records. It has 

 been the making of "records" of such 

 rare birds as Brewster's and Lawrence's 

 Warblers, for example, which has so 



(298) 



