KECENT LITERATURE 
19 a 
Webster, E. B. The King op the Olympics. The Roosevelt Elk anh 
OTHER Mammals of the Olympic Mountains. Port Angeles, Washington; the 
Port Angeles Evening News. 8vo, 227 pp., numerous unnumbered half-tones. 
1920. 
Significant of the increasing interest in the out-of-doors in the Pacific North- 
west is the appearance of this attractive volume by E. B. Webster, moving spirit 
and leader of the Klahhane mountaineering club of Port Angeles, Washington, 
and member also of the Pacific Northwest Bird and Mammal Club and the Ameri- 
can Society of Mammalogists. It is written, not from the standpoint of sports- 
man or technical mammalogist, but from that of a mountaineer and friend of 
wild life. 
The King of the Olympics is, of course, the Roosevelt elk, Cervus roosevelti 
Merriam or Cervus canadensis occidentalis Hamilton Smith, and the longest and 
most important chapter of the book is very properly devoted to a study of this 
magnificent animal in its principal habitat. The author has made a valuable 
contribution to knowledge of the habits and relations to environment of the elk, 
including its protective coloration, trails, present and former distribution in the 
Olympic Mountains, food, herding and breeding habits, fighting, young, and 
enemies. Many of the data were gathered by Mr. Webster himself in course of 
frequent trips to the mountains; and, in addition, the observations of William 
Everett, Chris Morganroth, George Welch, and Grant Humes, mountain men of 
wide experience in the Olympic region, have been freely drawn upon. 
It was found that the lives of the wolf, cougar, bear, and deer were so closely 
linked with that of the elk that accounts of their habits seemed necessary to 
complete the story of the elk. ‘‘This done it was but a step to the remaining 
mammals of the Olympics — some thirty odd chapters in all.’’ Among these 
accounts, those of the cougar, marmot, timber wolf, chehalis (mountain beaver), 
and black bear are of special value. 
The book is illustrated with numerous half-tones, including several of the elk 
in its normal environment. The typography is clear, the paper of excellent 
quality, and the binding plain but durable. An index would have made the 
volume somewhat more useful. The few scientific names included could have 
been made more acceptable if they had been edited by a technical mammalogist. 
The author’s style is informal and attractive, and an occasional story enlivens 
the text. The reader has no difiiculty, however, in separating the “stories” 
from the serious observations of fact, which is more than can be said for some 
writings on natural history. 
We wish the author had given us his opinion of what to do to insure the con- 
servation of the elk, a matter which has been much discussed by protectionists, 
few of whom have had his extended opportunities for first-hand contact with 
the problem. 
The book should help to stimulate popular interest in mammals, which deserve 
far more attention from conscientious writers on nature than they have received 
hitherto. It will be a welcome addition to any library pertaining to the woods, 
fields, and mountains, and their animal denizens. 
— Walter P. Taylor^ 
