752 Analyses of Books. [December, 
justified in pronouncing the scheme of teaching — e.g., Natural 
History — in the guise of reading-lessons a grave error. True, 
the leading faCts of Natural History may thus be somewhat 
dimly implanted in the minds of children, but they will never on 
this system be taught to observe and to draw correCt inferences 
from the phenomena around them. To learn any branch of the 
natural sciences rightly we must go to things, and make use of 
books merely for recapitulating and systematising our know- 
ledge. 
The plan adopted in Birmingham of having a Science Demon- 
strator who attends the schools to give lessons in rotation, and 
has the materials requisite for illustrative experiments taken 
round with him, is an admirable plan for combining economy 
with efficiency. We are happy to learn that the children show a 
lively interest in the lessons. 
Osteology of Lanius Ludovicianus var. Excubitorides. By Dr. 
R. W. Shufeldt. 
We have here an osteological monograph of the variety Excubi- 
torides of the shrike, Lanius Ludovicianus. The characters of 
this bird, as a type of its group, are beautifully displayed in the 
accompanying plate of its skeleton. Here, as the author re- 
marks, we see the general framework of an ordinary insessorial 
bird, which might belong, e.g., to a thrush, yet surmounted by a 
raptorial skull, approaching that of a hawk. We seem to see 
here a transition not yet completed. Dr. Shufeldt does not indi- 
cate any other raptorial feature save the “ decided curvature of 
the bird claw,” but we may possibly lay too much weight upon 
this characteristic from our knowledge of the habits of the bird. 
It is singular how few birds are either purely vegetarian or purely 
carnivorous. It has been remarked that some of the most decided 
fruit-eaters turn predatory in severe seasons, and even attack 
their own kind. The idea of a strictly defined “ natural food ” 
for any animal species is fading away like that of species them- 
selves. 
