318 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



treatises of recent publication. He knew the coloured plates of 

 De Kay's 'Birds of New York ' so well that the species therein 

 depicted were recognized at the first meeting in the field." To 

 a large extent this is the experience of most of us, but even then 

 it would scarcely be possible to find in an old publication the 

 data on bird migration which are given in the present work, while 

 the "county schedules " form a digest worthy of the admiration 

 of a statistician. 



As stated on the title-page, only the Water Birds and Game 

 Birds find a place in this first instalment of the series, and 

 besides the numerous illustrations in the text there are no fewer 

 than forty-two coloured plates at the end of the volume. These 

 deserve special mention, as the artist, Mr. Louis Agassiz Fuertes, 

 contributes a foreword, "Illustrator's Note," an innovation that 

 might well be more generally followed, for as a rule we only see 

 the work of the artist, and know nothing of his opportunities or 

 limitations ; his personality is too much behind the curtain. 

 Mr. Fuertes tells us that for accuracy the colours of birds, not 

 alone their feathers, must be taken from " actual specimens, 

 painted, in short, from living or fresh taken birds, before the 

 settling of the body fluids or the disintegration or absorption of 

 pigment could take place," while the high colour is only attained 

 in adult birds and at the approach of the breeding season. For 

 the last ten years the compilation of these colour records has 

 been the most important part of the field-work of this con- 

 scientious zoological iconographer. 



Not only may this quarto volume be a source of legitimate 

 satisfaction to the author and artist, but also to Dr. J. M. Clarke, 

 the Director of the Science Division of the New York State 

 Education Department, to whose insistence this expensive work 

 has been adopted as a State liability. 



