Recent Literature. 
171 
writing, but* contents himself with a plain, unpretentious style of imparting 
his facts, it follows naturally that many of his bird biographies are inter- 
esting stories, that may claim alike the attention of the general reader 
and the practised ornithologist. The former will no doubt congratulate 
himself that the author has chosen, wisely we think, to devote compara- 
tively little space to the discussion of technical details, such as the effects 
of climate upon the colors and size of birds, matters in regard to which 
Mr. Maynard has shown himself to be well informed. For such a discus- 
sion Florida birds afford an ample text, but the thoroughness with which 
they have been treated by Mr. J. A. Allen * offers a valid reason for its 
exclusion in a book of the more general type of the present ; so that the 
general reader is spared much dry reading, and finds himself upon every 
page face to face with the more popular and interesting side of bird his- 
tories. The descriptions of the species are in general extremely good. 
They are sufficiently detailed to be all that is required by the advanced 
student, and, indeed, often include mention of the obscurer seasonal plu- 
mages ; yet they are not too technical or overburdened with detail to be 
made available by the tyro. In short, in this particular the author appears 
to have hit upon a happy medium. The paragraph devoted to “ Observa- 
tions ” seems to us an especially good idea, as in it attention is called, in 
a few concise words, to facts not readily handled in the formal diagnosis, 
and discrimination is made between closely allied and easily mistakable 
species. By these hints is saved much trouble and doubt. 
It is so much pleasanter as well as easier to praise than to censure, that 
we feel much like leaving the faults of the work to be discovered by the 
reader ; but as we have pointed out some of its excellences, we shall not 
be deemed over captious if we call attention to certain points that seem 
fair objects of criticism. And, to begin with, we deem it peculiarly un- 
fortunate that, in a work possessing the pretensions of the present, the 
plates should not be of a higher degree of excellence. A few of the 
earlier ones, in the “ Birds of Florida,” are highly creditable, and cer- 
tain of the heads in the more recent numbers afford an excellent idea of 
the species. But, however praiseworthy may be deemed the enthusiasm 
and energy with which the author has educated himself to the use of the 
pencil, it must be admitted that the plates in general reflect no credit upon 
the author or his book. Not only is the drawing of many of the birds 
faulty, resulting in distorted outlines, but the coloring is crude to a degree ; 
while the incongruous grouping of birds’ heads in color upon the same plate 
with drawings of claws, sterna, tongues, etc. is, from an artistic stand-point, 
exceedingly objectionable. It is doubtless not easy to produce, at a mod- 
erate cost, plates that shall unite high artistic merit with scientific accuracy. 
But if the number of illustrations in the present book were cut down one 
* Mammals and Winter Birds of East Florida, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., Vol. 
II, pp. 161 -450, Pll. iv-viii, 1871. 
