BOOK NOTICES. 



4'3 



were numerous, and a great bother. There 

 were plenty of goat signs, but they were 

 old. We found a well worn trail, leading 

 to a beautiful lake. It looked like a moose 

 trail, and must have'been made in winter. 



There are plenty of trout in the lake, for 

 we could see them jumping; but had no 

 fishing tackle. 



We evidently did not strike the right 

 mountain. There is plenty of game here, 

 and fish too, for I have seen bear, moose 

 and goat skins, and plenty of fish. When 

 we get a chance, and the Indians stop pack- 

 ing, we are going hunting with them. 



I hope, later, to write you something of 

 interest for Recreation. 



Harry L. Suydam. 



* * * 



Every visitor to the Sportsmen's Expo- 

 sition knows Harry Suydam. He always 

 makes headquarters at Recreation's 

 booth, and is a most admirable young man. 

 I hope he may strike rich dirt, when he gets 

 over to the mines, and that he may have to 

 charter a steamer to bring out his nuggets, 

 3 years hence. — Editor. 



HOW TO REACH THE KLONDIKE. 



Ft. Wrangle, Alaska. 



Editor Recreation: It is simply won- 

 derful to see the mad rush of people for the 

 Yukon region. The Klondike, a tributary 

 of the Yukon, is the centre of attraction. 

 Thousands of men have surmounted the 

 Chilkat pass, large numbers have gone by 

 way of Behring sea and up the Yukon, by 

 the North American Transportation and 

 Trading Co.'s steamers. Many others are 

 going up the Stickeen river by way of Ft. 

 Wrangle, and over the trail from the head 

 of navigation, on the Stickeen, to Teslin 

 lake. From there they go down the Hoot- 

 olinquy river, and a number are going by 

 way of Telegraph creek, the head of navi- 

 gation on the Stickeen, to Dease lake; 

 thence down Dease river to the Liard and 

 up that to Francis lake. These purpose de- 

 veloping a new mining country on the head 

 waters of the Yukon, still farther North. 



For those, however, who are able to have 

 their packing done, the route via the Stick- 

 een and over the trail to Teslin lake is a 

 very good one, and there are scarcely any 

 hardships to be encountered. The trail is 

 a long one, but not difficult; and when 

 Teslin lake is reached plenty of timber is 

 found for cutting lumber. From there you 

 have clear sailing, over the lake and .down 

 stream to the Yukon. 



Parties leaving the coast in winter can 

 find good traveling on the ice, up the Stick- 

 een, after the first of February, and can out- 

 fit and go over the trail to the lake on dog 

 sleds, in good shape. Then they can go 

 down when the river sheds its ice. in the 

 spring. A. J. Stone. 



BOOK NOTICES. 



" Citizen Bird," in spite of its unsatisfac- 

 tory title, merits a warm welcome from ev- 

 eryone who loves birds. The book is a 

 brave and spirited effort to make American 

 bird lore so pleasing to young people that 

 it will become popular with them. What 

 would we not have given for such a book 

 in our boyhood days! In competition with 

 this fascinating story, brim full of interest- 

 ing facts, ingenious aids to the memory and 

 good bird pictures, even Robinson Crusoe 

 would have had to take a back seat. I can 

 not see how, to any boy or girl, possessing 

 one spark of intelligence and love of nat- 

 ure, this book can be anything else than 

 irresistible. 



Briefly stated, it is a bright, breezy story, 

 in S3 chapters, wherein Dr. Roy Hunter, a 

 naturalist, 4 bright young people who also 

 love birds, and a fisherman, range far and 

 wide over the farm, up the river, by the 

 marsh and along the shore, chatting about 

 and diligently noting the birds they see. In 

 the whole of the story there is not one 

 technical term, nor a Latin name; but there 

 is a good, clear, classified list at the end. 

 Over 100 species of birds pass in review, 

 and in addition to the bit of story belong- 

 ing to each, there is a crisp 10-line descrip- 

 tion of size, colors, food habits and geo- 

 graphic range, and a good picture. 



Every aid to the understanding, and the 

 memory, that Mrs. Wright and Dr. Coues 

 could devise has been introduced and ex- 

 ploited, to enable even the youngest read- 

 ers to remember clearly what is here set 

 down. On this ground only are we recon- 

 ciled to such alliterative groups as " Tree 

 Trappers," " Wise Watchers," and " Weed 

 Warriors," which, without mitigating cir- 

 cumstances of some sort, I should consider 

 too frivolous, even for this book. 



The illustrations, in in number, are all 

 by Mr. L. A. Fuertes, and while in the main 

 they are full of life, originality and good 

 art, their value varies considerably. Many 

 are really fine, and of these particular atten- 

 tion is called to the skilful handling of the 

 black species, such as the black-birds and 

 crow, which are so difficult to treat, satis- 

 factorily, in a book illustration. I am not 

 quite satisfied with the feet of the perching 

 birds; for very often they seem to pitch 

 too far forward, and leave the bird hanging 

 by its hind toes only. For example, the 

 picture of the wood thrush shows how the 

 toes should not grasp the perch; while that 

 of the hermit thrush shows how they 

 should. In several of the birds showing 

 strongly contrasted colors, the treatment of 

 the black plumage is rather hard; but. with 

 a few exceptions, Mr. Fuertes's drawing is 

 excellent. 



Believing sincerely that our young peo- 

 ple and our public-school teachers need 

 more natural history, more love of living 



