Nov., 1921 
trations (unnumbered) in the text, there are 
several full-page inserted plates, unnum- 
bered. We have seen copies of two editions, 
the ‘“‘Booklovers’” and the “Presentation” 
(“Format de Luxe’). These are identical 
as to printed matter save that in the first 
named edition, the two parts contain three 
colored plates and one photographic plate 
while in the “de Luxe” they include nine 
colored and four photographic plates. 
The outstanding features of Dawson’s 
work, as indicated by these initial offerings, 
are the extraordinary abundance and ex- 
cellence of the illustrations, and the vigor- 
ous literary style characterizing the text. 
Words fail us to express adequately our ad- 
miration of practically every one of the 
large number of photographic studies, either 
from the artistic or the natural history 
standpoint; usually it is from both stand- 
points. The best we can do is to refer to 
a few of the pictures which happen to have 
afforded us particular pleasure in their con- 
templation. 
The full-page photograph by the author 
(p. 106) captioned “A Tempest of Black- 
birds” affords endless material for study of 
flight attitudes of Red-wings. The Brewer 
Blackbirds foraging and bathing with per- 
fect obliviousness ‘“‘in the estero”’ (p. 87) 
and also those on the telephone wires (p. 
85), with suggestive caption “High Notes’’, 
call to mind these exact scenes from one’s 
own experience. Dawson’s photograph of 
“A Flight of Western Crows” in Santa Bar- 
bara County (p. 17) and that of “Ravens at 
Play” in Los Angeles County (p. 8) are both, 
to our mind, of exceptional merit. 
Perhaps the rarest bird photograph ever 
secured is that of a California Jay in the act 
of taking an egg out of a Black-headed 
Grosbeak’s nest. An excellently executed 
photogravure plate is assigned to this study. 
Donald R. Dickey was the lucky photograph- 
er; we wish we could be told the “story” 
as to just how he obtained this picture. 
Then there are the fine colored plates, 
from water-color drawings by Allan Brooks. 
(There are some text illustrations from 
black-and-white drawings by the same artist, 
as well.) It is difficult to say which of 
these plates is best. Possibly the Scott 
Criole plate takes first place; but all are 
in every respect on a very high plane. 
As to general plan of treatment for each 
species, “The Birds of California’ follows 
closely that employed in Dawson’s “Birds 
of Washington”. A series of small-type par- 
agraphs contains information of a popularly 
less assimilable kind, and this is followed 
by the running, “readable” account of the 
PUBLICATIONS REVIEWED 199 
species. Page 1 begins at the other end of 
the list as regards phylogenetic sequence of 
species, namely with the Raven instead of a 
Grebe; and of this departure from the usual 
custom, especially in a popular work, we 
heartily approve. The full species covered 
in the two parts at hand number just twen- 
ty, representing the Corvidae and most of 
the Icteridae. 
The accounts of species vary considerably 
in merit; some, for instance that of the Tri- 
colored Blackbird, approach exhaustiveness; 
others, for example that of the Steller Jay, 
fall far short of being a full treatment. We 
would not have ventured this criticism if it 
weren’t for the claim of scientific and pop- 
ular completeness set forth on the cover— 
which inscription we hope will be left off 
from the permanent title page. All bird 
students together can hardly be said to pos- 
sess a “complete” knowledge of even our 
best-known birds. And several of the ac- 
counts in “The Birds of California” are only 
fragmentary as compared with the total of 
information already published in regard to 
the species concerned. 
As previously intimated, Dawson’s liter- 
ary style is vigorous. There is an abund- 
ance of allusion and of figures of speech, as 
a rule hitting off most aptly the peculiari- 
ties of behavior and temperament of the 
bird dealt with. We think that the author 
is about at his best in his account of the 
California Jay. Particular phrases or modes 
of expression, which must be read with the 
context to be appreciated, portray the bird 
with thrilling vividness. Personal reaction 
to the Dawsonian style will of course vary 
infinitely; but as far as our acquaintance 
extends, we know of no one who has not 
enthused over the majority of the text ac- 
counts in “The Birds of California’. We will 
confess that now and then an extreme ex- 
pression has struck us as unfortunate. One 
account, that of the Cowbird, is rather full 
of extravagant language; and also, human- 
istic terms are employed to a degree that 
makes it to us displeasing. The fact that 
the Cowbird constitutes a very interesting 
type of bird, biologically, is scarcely to be 
detected amid the mass of maledictorious 
verbiage. 
Here and there the philosophically in- 
clined reader will find suggestions or bits 
of theorizing that are pleasingly stimula- 
tive. The author’s ideas with regard to the 
phylogeny of the Yellow-billed Magpie con- 
stitute a case in point; and another is com- 
prised in the population-estimates of the 
California Jay. Dawson has very positive 
beliefs as to the baneful relationships of 
