97 



is . . . the adoption of an ' auctorum plurimorum ' rule ; . . . For sub- 

 species he adopts what may be termed a Seebohmian system of trinomi- 

 als first instituted by him in his British Museum Catalogue of the Tur- 

 didse. . ..As Mr. Seebohm says : "The real history of a bird is its life- 

 history. The deepest interest attaches to every thing that reveals the 

 little mind, however feebly it may be developed, which lies behind the 

 feathers. The habits of the bird during the breeding season, at the two 

 periods of migration, and in winter ; its mode of flight and of progres- 

 sion on the ground, in the trees, or on the water ; its song and its various 

 call- and alarm-notes ; its food and its means of procuring it at different 

 seasons of the year ; its migrations, the dates of arrival and departure, 

 routes it chooses, and the winter quarters it selects ; and above all, 

 every particular respecting its breeding, when it begins to build its nest, 

 the materials it uses for the purpose, the number of eggs it lays, the vari- 

 ations in their color, size, and shape, — all these particulars are the real 

 history of a bird ; and in the account of each species of British birds I 



endeavor to give as many of them as possible." Mr. Seebohm's work 



abounds in passages which invite comment . . . — J. A. A., The Auk, Vol. 

 II, pp. 88-91, January, 1885. 



Shaepe, R. Bowdler. — Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. 

 Vol. VII. Catalogue of the Passeriformes, or Perching Birds. 

 Cichlomorphae : Part IV., containing the concluding portion of 

 the Family Timeliidse (Babbling Thrushes). By R. Bowdler 

 Sharpe. London : Printed by order of the Trustees. 1883. 

 8vo., pp. i-xvi. , 1-698, pll. i-xv., and numerous woodcuts in the 

 text. 



The family Timeliidce, an account of which was commenced in the 

 preceding volume [Vol. VI.], is here [Vol. VII.] completed, with the 

 enumeration and description of 687 species. .. .while many ornith- 

 ologists may not agree with the author in his allocation of certain forms, 

 none, we fancy, can feel otherwise than deeply grateful to him for the 

 very useful monograph he has placed at their disposal. — J. A. A. , The Auk, 

 Vol. I., pp. 278, 279, July, 1«84. 



Smith, Everett. — The Birds of Maine. With annotations of their 



comparative abundance, dates of migration, breeding habits, etc. 



By Everett Smith. Forest and Stream, Vol. XIX., Nos. 22-26; 



Vol. XX., Nos. 1-7 and 10-13. 



. . . .Passing to water birds it is gratifying to find a better quality 

 of work. Mr. Smith is evidently at home here, and proofs of the 

 general accuracy of his information and judgement are numerous and 

 unmistakable. ... It is too good a paper to be wholly condemned, too 

 faulty a one to be generously praised ..Its author. .. .has become 



almost an ornithologist — W. B., Bull. Null. Ornith. Club, Vol. VIII., 



pp. 164-166, July, 1883. 



Stearns, W. A. — Notes on the Natural History of Labrador. By W. 

 A. Stearns. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., Vol. VI., 1883, pp. 111-137. 

 Author's separates issued July 27 to Sept. 20, 1883. 



These "Notes" relate only in part to birds, which occupy pp. 116- 

 123. The list of birds numbers 111 species, and is briefly annotated. . . . 

 —J. A. A., The Auk, Vol. I , p. 284, July, 1884. 



