THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



119 



Louis Agassiz, Baird was a born naturalist, interested in all 

 phases of nature, though with a strong leaning toward the 

 birds and fishes. His best known work is ''The Birds of North 

 America," issued in collaboration with Brewer and Ridgeway. 

 He will probably be longest remembered, however, for his 

 work in connection with the Smithsonian Institution and the 

 United States Fish Commission. Of the first, he was for a 

 long time the Chief and the second was organized under his 

 direction. The story of his life is told in this volume largely 

 by excerpts from letters written to and by him, with sufficient 

 comment by his biographer to fuse the references into a co- 

 herent account. Nearly as interesting as Baird's biography is 

 the light the book throws on the characters of the early orni- 

 thologists, most of whom corresponded with Baird at one time 

 or another. John Cassin especially must have been a man 

 worth knowing. Accompanying the text, which covers 450 

 pages, are nineteen photographs, mostly likenesses of various 

 members of the Baird family. The book is published by the 

 J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, at $3.50 net. 



The Comstock Publishing Company of Ithaca, N. Y., is 

 issuing a series of note-books for the study of birds, trees, fish, 

 and the like, that seem to be meeting with considerable favor. 

 The books are bound in stout paper covers and fit easily into 

 the pocket, ready for notes at any time. The tree-book begins 

 with outline drawings of the leaves of nearly 100 trees, and the 

 student is expected to identify his specimens by comparison 

 with these drawings. Then follow enough four-page outlines 

 for notes on each tree. The notes call for various data re- 

 garding the shape, bark, leaves, flowers, and fruits of each 

 specimen studied. There is also a key to the evergreen trees 

 with outlines for notes. There are two bird note-books, each 

 containing 25 or more line drawings of birds by Fuertes, and 

 enough outlines for describing the bird, its song, habits, nests, 

 eggs, and young. The labor of note-taking is lessened by lists 



