535 THE NIDOLOGIST 
écent Publientions= 
{Publications for review should be sent to DR. R. W. SHUF- 
ELDT, Associate in Zoology, Smuibhsouiar Institution, Wash- 
ington, D. C.] 
BENDIRE, CHARLES: ‘‘Life Histories of North 
American Birds, from the Parrots to the Grackles, 
with special reference to their breeding habits 
and eggs. With seven lithographic plates. 
Smithsonian Institution. U.S. Nat. Museum. 
Special Bulletin. pp.I-X, 1-518. Plates I-VII. 
(From the Museum.) 
‘This sumptous quarto constitutes in real- 
ity the second part of this great work upon 
the life histories of the birds of this country. 
Agreeing with the one that preceded it, it 
is based upon the collections in the United 
States National Museum, and relates only 
to land birds; and, as stated in the introduc- 
tion, the ‘‘classification given in the Code 
and Check-List of the American Ornitholo- 
gists’ Union has again been followed, and 
the species and sub-species have been treated 
in a manner similar to that adopted in the 
earlier volume.”’ 
Fortunately for its author, he was again 
enabled to secure the services of Mr. John 
L. Ridgway, a brother of Mr. Robert Ridg- 
way,the Ornithologist, to execute the origi- 
nal water-color drawings for him, and these 
have been chromo-lithographed and most 
faithfully reproduced by the Ketterlinus 
Printing Company of Philadelphia, Pa. In 
point of excellence, they even exceed in 
beauty and accuracy the eggs on the plates 
in the first volume, and it is perfectly safe 
to say that as artistic representations of the 
originals, no Oological treatise ever written 
has been embellished by such superb spec- 
imens of art, as is this work. It would be 
quite out of place here to give a full list of 
all the eggs figured on the seven plates to 
this volume, but there are two hundred and 
one (201) of them, and those on Plate VII, 
of the Orioles and Grackles, are as_beauti- 
ful objects asone would care to see. In 
every instance the specimen is represented 
of natural size. Some of the variations 
seen among those of the American Crow 
are truly remarkable, not only in the 
matters of form and size, but most especially 
so in regard to color; indeed, as Major Ben- 
dire remarks in the body of the book under 
the admirable account of this bird, ‘‘endless 
’ varieties may be found in a good series of 
these eggs.’ 
By consulting the ‘Table of Contents”’ 
alone one can easily find reference by page 
to any bird dealt with in the work, while 
in addition to this, at the close of the work 
we haye a finely printed ‘Alphabetical 
Index,’’ extending over nine pages, from 
which all special references may be obtained, 
as well as the pagination. All this is ex- 
tremely useful, and adds to the finish and 
excellence of the production. It hardly 
seems called for to criticise the classification 
adopted by the author for, as admission is 
made that it follows the taxonomy set forth 
in the A.O.U. Check-List, it is sufficient to 
convince one what to expect. Doubtless 
it answers well enough for a volume that 
deals with life-histories of birds rather than 
with their systematic arrangement; with 
eggs rather than the morphology of the 
forms that laid them. Archaic to a degree 
almost Noachian, such classifications may 
be handy enough for chapter-headings, but 
they come very wide of the mark in so far 
as any natural taxonomy is concerned, 
based upon our modern knowledge of avian 
structure and the true affinities of the 
various species and groups. Major Bendire 
in such matters is a staunch representative 
of the old school of Ornithologists—very old 
school—hence we find him still adhering 
to such absolutely unnatural divisions as 
the Pi-carion Birds’’ and the ‘‘Macrochi- 
rine Birds,’’ and so on. Such groups as 
these do not exist in nature, and conse- 
quently no true naturalist should allow 
himself to employ them for any puiizese 
whatever. 
In the case of any species or sub-species, 
the life-history of which is dealt with in 
this work, our author very wisely quotes 
zn extenso from letters of such of his reliable 
correspondents as have studied the par- 
ticular form in nature, or else he draws 
largely upon what has been published of a 
similar nature. To this matter he sub- 
stantially adds from his own experiences, 
the whole, in any particular instance, be- 
ing entertainingly blended, full and ample, 
and as a consequence in the great majority 
of instances thus brings before us life-his- 
tories of our birds considerably in advance 
of anything printed at. the time of the ap- 
pearance of the present volume. Descrip- 
tive Orinthology can but be powerfully ad- 
vanced by these admirable achievements of 
Major Bendire’s, and there is not an Orni- 
