ILLINOIS AUDUBON SOCIETY 21 



A Suggestive List of Bird Books 



There have never been available so many well-written books and peri- 

 odicals for the guidance of bird students as at the present time but this 

 does not make it easy to select the most representative books for a small 

 library. Selecting a bird book is frequently a very serious question for the 

 beginner, for example, as some books are much better adapted to beginning 

 bird-study than others. Again, many delightfully written books are not 

 the best guides for identification, and are intended for the use of those 

 who already know the birds by sight and who wish a more intimate knowl- 

 edge of their songs and habits. Other books have been written for the 

 express purpose of emphasizing the economic value of birds, and still others 

 have been written about a particular family or group of birds or of the 

 general bird life of a certain locality. Then, too, there are other books 

 that have only a chapter or two devoted to birds, yet frequently containing 

 invaluable additions to bird literature. 



It will therefore be readily seen that it is impossible to prepare a limited 

 list of books like that printed below which will meet all needs and not 

 exclude many of value. For that reason the list is well labeled "Suggest- 

 tive." It contains more books than most of the smaller libraries can aiford 

 and omits many that our readers might prefer to see listed. Everyone is 

 invited to enter complaint about our omissions. The list is only tentative, 

 anyway, and in another issue of the Bulletin it may be possible to print a 

 more complete and a much more carefully prepared list, in the preparation 

 of which our readers are invited to assist. 



Inquiry is sometimes made for a "five dollar list" or a "ten dollar list" 

 of bird books for school libraries. In the preparation of such a list hardly 

 two persons wall agree. Perhaps the needs of no two school libraries will 

 be exactly the same. Nevertheless two lists of that sort are ventured here- 

 with, the description of the books, prices, etc.. being given in the detailed 

 list printed below. For the first list Mrs. C. E. Raymond is responsible 

 and Mr. O. M. Schantz is to blame for the second." 



First List 



A. Collection to cost about five dollars : Reed's Bird Guides, Part I and Part II ; 

 Citizen Bird by M. O. Wright; Bird Stories from Burroughs; The Sport of Bird Study 

 by Job. 



B. Collection to cost about ten dollars. To the above list add Chapman's Hand- 

 book of Birds of Eastern North America, and Birds in Their Relation to Man by 

 Weed and Dearborn. 



Second List 

 Collection to cost about ten dollars : Reed's Bird Guide, Part II ; Bird Craft by 

 M. O. Wright; Wild Bird Guests by Baynes; American Birds by Finley; Chapman's 

 Handbook of Birds of Eastern North America; Walter's Wild Birds in City Parks. 



The List 



Bailey,. Florence Merriam Birds of Village and Field. A bird book for beginners; 

 with a color key to 154 birds and 300 illustrations. 12mo. $2.00 



Handbook of Birds of Western North America. 



Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 33 full plates by Fuertes; 600 illustrations in text; 

 570 pages. 12mo. Includes the Great Plains, Great Basin, Pacific Slopes, and 

 lower Rio Grande Valley. This book does for the West what Chapman's 

 Handbook does for the East. $3.50 



Barrows, Walter Bradford Michigan Bird Life. Michigan Agricultural College. 

 (Address Sec. A. M. Brown, East Lansing, Michigan). 70 uncolored plates, 

 152 text figures, 822 pages. 8vo. Cloth, 60 cents plus postage (package weighs 



