Book Reviezvs. 



263 



that the burrowing-owl foregathers on friendly terms with 

 prairie-dogs and rattlesnakes, she writes : " The owls hunt among 

 the burrows for young mammals, and the offspring of the * dogs ' 

 are doubtless a choice tidbit; the snakes crawl from hole to hole 

 for the same purpose, but include owl-eggs and nestlings in their 

 menu. So far as I have been able to observe, the ' dogs ' are in 

 terror from them both, but the sudden advent of a human 

 intruder causes the three enemies to pop suddenly down the same 

 hole with surprising unanimity." 



Californians have long been interested in their native birds. 

 The Cooper Ornithological Club is one of the most active in the 

 country. But all signs indicate that we are on the eve of a more 

 wide-spread awakening of popular interest in our feathered 

 neighbors. The rapid rise of local Audubon Societies and Out- 

 door Art Clubs is part of the general movement in a State where 

 Nature never locks the door against the student at any time of 

 the year. Mrs. Wheelock's book not only comes opportunely, but 

 comes with the eclat of real merit. It takes its place beside 

 the more technical work of Mrs. Bailey as the best general 

 introduction to the birds of California that has yet appeared. 

 It only remains to add that the publishers deserve no little credit 

 for the mechanical perfection they have given the book. Bound 

 in flexible black leather and printed in clear large type on 

 excellent paper, it is as tempting to the hand as it is pleasing 

 to the eye. 



disciples of Isaak Walton. But a charming, though some- 

 what jerky, love-story which threads its way through many 

 piscatorial adventures bids for appreciation among a larger circle 

 of readers. Perhaps it is inevitable that a successful fisherman's 

 story should be somewhat jerky and improbable; it is in the 

 nature of the sport, and does not seriously detract from the 

 reader's interest in the rapid m.ovement of the story. It is 

 apparent that the author is a true son of the rod and the reel. 

 He knows the woods, the river, and the trout-pools not from 

 hearsay, but from experience. Hence, in spite of evident short- 

 comings of the story, no woodsman can read the book without 

 feeling again the thrill of long-remembered strikes, when the gray 

 hackle danced temptingly down over the white riffles. And even 

 the most ingrained Walton will find an added element of interest 



" The Romance 



OF PiSCATOR." 



Dedicated " to every one who has heard the 

 Siren song of the reel," The Romance of 

 Piscator* makes its strongest appeal to the 



* The Romance of Piscator. By Henry Wysham Lanier. With frontis- 

 piece. 227 pp. $1.25. 1904. Henry Holt & Co., New York. 



