No. 418.] NOTES AND LITERATURE. 855 
the camera in the branches of trees, and taking a chance shot or 
two when the bird shyly returns to the nest, he cuts off the limb or 
twigs on which a nest containing young birds is fixed, and removes 
it to a favorable situation near by. Then, concealing himself and 
his camera in a small green tent within a few feet of the nest, he 
waits for the parents to adjust themselves to the new conditions. 
This they do in a surprisingly short time. In a few hours the old 
site is forgotten, and the birds are as firmly attached to the new one 
as if they had themselves chosen it. The operations of feeding, 
cleaning, brooding, and other incidental actions of old and young 
may now be observed and registered with a completeness and 
clearness impossible under the old method. 
Professor Herrick's book contains introductory chapters dealing 
with the instincts and habits of birds and the psychological princi- 
ples involved in the successful practice of the new method, followed 
by other chapters explaining and illustrating the method as employed 
by Professor Herrick. Seven of these are devoted to a detailed 
account of the home life of a number of our common birds as 
observed at close range. The text is supplemented by a series of 
photographs, which surpass for clearness and scientific value, as well 
as for popular interest, anything of the kind heretofore published. 
The birds thus treated belong for the most part to the passerine 
order; the night hawk and the kingfisher are the only exceptions. 
The very fact that in the study of such familiar birds as the robin, 
catbird, and cedar bird, we are offered so much interesting observa- 
tion, much of it original in its accuracy of detail, gives a good idea 
of the value of the method, and promises rich results when it is 
applied to less familiar birds | 
The concluding chapters of the book deal with general questions, 
Pig as the force of habit, fear, etc. There is an excellent index; 
3t E typogr aphy, and the reproduction of the photographs are 
lie ste quality. The excellence of the book in such matters is. 
rdc nce that it is intended not as a scientific treatise, but as 
eiii r a iai and if it is reviewed as such, it should be 
AE iin y the highest praise. There is, however, much reference 
er iMm and the three last chapters to the questions of instinct 
abit, and they are treated in several paragraphs in a purely 
oig qas spirit. The author, moreover, puts in at the outset a 
Ar against what he justly terms the “gross anthropo- 
tin rus characterizes much of what is now written op 
T first reading of Professor Herrick's book, however, will 
