76 



THE AMEKICA.X .\ A TL' R A l.l S !\ [X'oi.. XXW 1 1 1. 



species. There are four valuable appendices, the first tliree dealing 

 witli protective legislation, the fourth a bibliography of economic 

 ornithology. 



There is naturally considerable unevenness of treatment in 

 the account of the food of birds due to the gaps in our present 

 knowledge of the subject, but the matter at Prof. Weed's and Mr. 

 Dearborn's command, is presented clearly and in a scientific spirit. 

 The doubtful birds, the crow, the crow blackbird, the bobolink, etc., 

 are treated in an unprejudiced spirit : — they receive justice tempered 

 with mercy. The book is intended not so much as a storehouse of 

 facts, as a powerful argument, which cannot fail to have a very bene- 

 ficial influence with the reading public. 



The illustrations will give the book a little more favor with the 

 people, and thus are a help. The cuts on pages 137 and on 139. 

 however, are of doubtful value and the full page illustration on page 

 59 called American Long-eared Owl looks very much like a Shori- 

 eared Owl. 



R. H. 



BOTANY. 



The Morphology of Angiosperms.^— For several years past there 

 has issued from the Botanical Department of the University of 

 Chicago a series of studies upon the embryo-sac and related topics, 

 some of which have been important contributions to the subject. 

 These papers form the basis of the present volume, which has been 

 prepared by the head of the department, with the assistance of Dr. 

 C. J. Chamberlain. While the book contains little material that has 

 not appeared before, nevertheless it can claim to be based, to a con- 

 siderable extent, upon work done under the supervision of the authors. 

 Evidently an enormous amount of literature has been gone over, and 

 on the whole, the summarizing of the results has been well done, 

 and the book will be very useful to the student who wishes to know 

 the present status of the subject. One would feel more confidence in 

 some of the conclusions reached by the authors, if these were based 

 to a greater degree upon first-hand observations; but it is quite pos- 



' Coulter, J. M. and Chamberlain, C. 1. Morphology of Awnosperms N. V. 

 Appleton & Co. 1903. pp. vii + 34S. 



