187S. 
39 
iIBBABY TABLE. 
Dr. Coces’ New Book— “ Birds of the Northwest,” A 
handbook of the region drained by the Missouri and its tribu- 
taries (Miscellaneous Publications, No. 3, of the United States 
Geological Survey of the Territories, F. V. Hayden, United 
States Geologist, in charge), Washington : (government Print- 
ing office, 1874, 1 vol., 8 vo., pp. 791. 
Through the courtesy of its distiilgnished author, we have 
reo' ived a copy of this most valuable addition to ornitho- 
logical literature, in the shape of a goodly volume of some 
800 pages bearing the above title; and we propose, for the 
benefit of our readers, to carefully review it, not less with the 
vi< w of criticizing some points, than of pointing out its many 
excellencies. Though Dr. Coues calls it merely a handbook 
of the Misso'iri region, he might, with perfect propriety, have 
added and of most of the rest of North America, since, it will 
he found, he has by no means restricted himself to the Mis- 
souri region, but has gone from Alaska to Flonda in search of 
material to make the book of the greatest practical value to 
ornithologists. The work opens with quite an elaborate in- 
troductory, in the form of a letter to Dr. Hayden, in charge of 
the survey under the auspices of which it appears, detailing 
the origin and the causes which resulted in the shape it finally 
assumed — a point on which we shall have a word to say here- 
after. 
We may premise here that the book treats of some 450 
specimens, being about three-fourths of the entire bird fauna 
of North America, and includes even some from South 
America and Australia ; while all the North American species 
of several families are monographed in elaborate detail. 
The classification adopted is the same as that of the au- 
thor’s “ Key to North American Birds,” of which wo have 
spoken in a previous volume of TheAmeric.4n Sfortsman, 
while the nomenclatare of the species and their sequence are 
those of his “Check List,” also lately reviewed by us, with 
some slight changes. This arrangement intioduced by Dr. 
Coues has proved acceptable to a majority of our American 
ornithologists as one answering the requirements of the 
present day. The English equivalents of the various groups 
adopted under Latin names are always given. This we think 
an improvement upon the ordinary plan of having the reader 
to find out for himself if he can, the scope of the technical 
terms. The names of the species are also given in English as 
well as in Latin, and following each one is a must copious 
gynonomy — many thousands of references to previously pub- 
lished names and descriptions being presented. The rich- 
ness of Dr. Coues’ work in this respect is without a parallel in 
the annals of North American ornithology, and constitutes 
nearly a complete bibliography of the species treated. As a 
delver in long forgotten tomes and an extracter of quaint 
names long since dead. Dr. Coues has shown a degree of ob- 
stinate diligence which places him far ahead of ordinary 
workers in the same vein We only hope that in due time he 
will treat the remainder of our birds in a similar manner. 
Following the synonomical list, the habitat of each species 
is given in full, and this is succeded by lists of specimens col- 
lected in the region under consideration at various times from 
1856 to the present day, by Dr. Hayden or under his direction. 
All this matter is in small type, and is secondary or subsidiary 
to the main text of the volume, which consists in a more or 
less complete biography of each species. Much of the ma- 
terial here presented was gathered by the author at the risk 
of his life, in a campaign conducted against the Apache In- 
dians of Arizona, and whilst travelling or stationed in other 
parts of the West, particularly at one of the military posts on 
the Upper Missouri. We must express our hearty commenda- 
tion and admiration of the nature of these biographies, which 
give an insight into bird character and bird life. Written in 
the terse, brilliant and truthful style, in which Dr. Couca 
excels, every statement carries with it the weight of exact- 
ness, and shows the close observer. 
It is generally supposed by the profane that naturalists pos- 
sess in small degree the poetic vein ; but the reader in search 
of good things, will see by these biographies that the element 
is not entirely wanting in our author. As an example, of beau- 
tiful word painting, we may refer to the charming account of 
the courtship of the quails, at page 437, where the doctor 
shows himself as an admirer and disciple of Eros, as well as 
a poet and ornithologist. 
Few persons are fully aware of the amount of preliminary 
labor involved in the production of such biographies, to say 
nothing of the drudgery the technical portions of the work 
presuppose. Not only has the author examined for himself 
thousands of specimens in the Smithsonian Museum and 
ol her large collections, and digested the results of his own 
field work, but he has also laboriously compiled the observa- 
tions of numerous other naturalists, among whom should be 
particularly mentioned Mr. J. A. Allen and Mr. T. 51. Tripp. 
All things considered some idea of the enormous task can 
be gained. Those 800 pages are very closely printed, repre- 
senting an amount of matter seldom brought within the same 
compass. The extremely useful and exhaustive index to the 
Volume will be found to add most materially to its general 
value. I 
We may simply say that any one taking up Dr. Cones' 
book will bo so fascinated with his descriptions as to finisli 
the perusal, if he be anything of a bird -lover. It is pleasant, 
ladeed, to be «ble to speak with unreserved favor of a book 
like this, which shows to the most careless observer how con- 
scientiously a certain task has been accomplished, but at the 
same time we cannot in justice overlook its defects ; while it is 
true they are not important in themselves, yet they tend to mar 
the beauty and symmetry of the whole. In the first place the 
work bears here and there evidence of haste — not that it is 
not elaborate as a whole, but that it is uneven and much bet- 
ter in some places than in others. While we happen to be 
aware that it has engaged portions of Dr. Coues’ time for some 
years, yet there is a patchiness about it, showing that different 
portions worked out wi;h great care were hastily thrown to- 
gether without that dove-tailing of the joints which we should 
like to see. The book was written in parts, it would seem, 
and then put together when the author was thinking of some- 
thing else, or could not find time to sandpaper over the little 
irregularities. The author also appears at times to have la- 
bored under a sense of a want of elbow room, and has 
abridged and contracted items which we wish he had more 
fully presented, and which we cannot but believe he would 
have paid more attention to had not his head or hands been 
full of other things, at the time when the book being called 
for, he threw his materials together. With many persons 
a book of such character as this would stand for their life- 
work, and be tenderly smoothed accoroingly ; but those who 
know the author’s avocations are aware that it was only an ac- 
cidental afi'air, and is by no means such as he would wish to be 
judged by. In short, it was intended, apart from its scien- 
tific use, to extend still further a notoriety to an expedition 
already sufficiently heralded by an issue of similar works of 
this character. 
We decidedly object to receive this work according to the 
literal signification of the title. It merely purports to be a 
history of the results of the work done in Ornithology by the 
United States Geological Survey of the Territories, Dr. F. V. 
Hayden in charge ; whereas, like a great many works issued 
under the same auspices, it really has nothing in particular 
to do with this survey, beyond a record of the comparatively 
few specimens collected under Dr. Hayden’s direction, and oc- 
casional allusions to the same gentleman’s observations in the 
West when such were found available for use. It is Dr. 
Coues’ personal contribution to Science, resting primarily on 
his own field studies and desk work, both conducted entirely 
independent of Dr. Hayden s survey. However, it Dr. Cones 
found this channel of communication with the public to be a 
satisfactory one, we suppose we have no right to complain, 
whatever we may think of his choice ; in any event it does not 
affect the quality of his work. 
To return to the point of our objection. Dr' Coues states in 
his in troduction that he i.as used the material collected by 
Dr. Hayden, while also naturalist of Capt. Reynolds’ and Lieut 
Warner’s expeditions, both of which were organized by the 
War Department, under the direction of the Engineer Bureau 
of the Army, before the Geological Survey of the Territories 
had any existence, even in the brain of its versatUe progeni- 
tor. In the second place, the only collection of birds made by 
the latter were those made by Messrs. Smith, Stevenson, Mer- 
riam and Batty, which were, excepting Mr. Merriam’s, small 
and unimportant. In addition, the Doctor has freely availed 
himself, with the usual courteous acknowledgments which 
passes between men of science, of the published records of 
Allen, Ridgway, Henshaw, Aiken, Holden and others, none of 
whom ever belonged to any one of Dr. Hayden’s expeditions. 
This is all in addition to the enormous amount of original 
matter brought to the work by Dr. Coues himself, and ho cer- 
tainly has made everything tell in increasing the scientific 
value of his work. Commend to us Dr. Coues as a most busy 
and industrious ornithologist bee, seeking scientific sweets 
from every flower. But we shall not withhold the inquiry, 
“ How much has the Hayden Survey actually contributed to 
the general result ?” This we leave the imoartial reader to 
determine for himself. 
Were we disposed to be captious or hypercritical, we might 
find fault with Dr. Coues for his too complimentary allusions 
to 5Ir. Jas. Stevenson as a zoological collector ; but as the 
Doctor stands sponsor for him, we are willing to pin our faith 
to his, and accept the intelligence as a pleasant surprise, 
which, no doubt, will bo shared by many naturalists through- 
out the United States. If we are correctly informed, even 
the small collection attributed to this gentleman was in 
reality mainly made by Mr. H. D. Smith. We are also in- 
clined to question the propriety of introducing into the work 
the monographs of several North American families, which 
have nothing to do with the Hayden Survey or with the 
Missouri region either, for that matter, and the proper place 
for which is in the publications of a learned society. The 
monographs are extremely valuable and important, but out 
of place. 0 
However, it is an ungracious task thus to criticise what may 
be called the inside history of the book, especially when every- 
thing we have said against it only goes to prove its high 
merits as a contribution to Science, irrespectivo of the 
auspices whence it emanates, and of the circumstances under 
which it was produced. 
Having praised and condemned it in turn, we will finish by 
advising everybody interested in Ornithology to besiege their 
Congressman for a copy and read it, assuring thenj that they 
will find in it a mmo of mental plcaBuro.imil profit. 
MoliEB.N Breech-Loaders, by Wni. Greener: London Afid 
New York, Cassell, Peter and Galpin. This is a seconded!- 
tion of a well known, work. The merits of the treatise need 
no recommendation, but its reappearance is opportune just 
now, owing to the trials instituted in England and to come off 
next month, in which the Greener breech-loader will bear a 
leading part in the test. Those who have followed the his- 
tory of breech-loaders are aware that the original breech- 
loader was the invention of Lefaucheux, a Frenchman. The 
.Americans, who have always been famous fer their rifles, 
speedily adopted the new idea, and it is from the English 
adoption of the newest American idea that the present con- 
troversy among English gunsmiths has originated. The 
Greener book, written by an English manufacturer, naturally 
gives the first place to the English guns, but gives no hint of 
borrowing ideas from American ingenuity. The work before 
us is an exact reprint of the first edition. An appendix is, 
however, added, the most important part of which is the 
chapter on “ Improved Breech Actions for Heavy Charges.” 
In this the English guns are under consideration, especially 
the Westley-Richards plan, and the improvements made on it 
by the Greener. The least satisfactory part of the whole 
book to an American reader is that which relates to rifles, 
the perfection for which American riflemen and sharpshooters 
had attained long before Wimbledon or Creedmoor were 
thought of, should have entitled the American arm to some 
attention. Our frontiersmen and pioneers, and our Boones, 
depend on their never failing rifles, not only for their subsist- 
ence, but their lives. Even in a review, our Sharps, and Rem- 
ington’s, Spencer’s, Whitneys and Winchesters are all left 
ont ; a five line notice of the Maynard being all the respect 
paid to the American manufacturers. Of the modem British 
arms, the author dwells more on the Martini-Henry than its 
comjieers, although that weapon is held in dread by British 
riflemen on account of its violent recoil disabling the shooter. 
The Chassepot, the needle gun, the Werder, and the newest 
German invention — the Manser — are all summarily dismissed 
with slight comments. On the whole, the book is a clear ex- 
position by letter press and illustrations of the nature and 
peculiarities of the breech-loader from an English point of 
view. We should, however, hko to see the subject fully 
treated on a similar basis by some American expert, who 
would give credit to the mechanicians of all nations impar- 
tially. 
Harpers for May — No. 300of this always welcome magazine 
is before us, and appropriately there is a notice of its growth 
and progress, pleasant in its mild egotism and touching in 
the tender remembrances awarded to other literary under- 
takings that have been and are not. Twenty-five years gives 
room lor a retrospect, the web of which is woven with thread 
of many hues. We are glad to see Harper’s in the vigor of 
its lusty youth, and tmet that it wiU continue to grow in 
grace and favor. The contents of this number are “ The 
Story of the Concord Fight,” pleasantly told by Frederic 
Hudson, in which, if there is nothing new, there is that which 
can never be old. The Centennial Papers keep the tenor of 
their way, with the “Nation’s progress in agriculture,” by Prof. 
W. H. Brewer, of New Haven. The publishers announce the 
foUovring as the remaining articles of the Series : “ Develop- 
ment of Mineral Resources,” by Prof. T. Sterry Hunt; 
‘‘Growth and Distribution of the Population,” by Francis A. 
Walker ; “Commercial Developments,” by Edward Atkinson ; 
“ Monetary Developments,” by Prof. William G. Sumner 1 
“The Experiment of the Union, with its Preparations,” by 
the Rev. Theodore D. Woolsey, D. D. ; “ Educational Pro- 
gress,” by Eugene Lawrence ; “Scientific Progress,” by F. A. 
P. Barnard, LL.D. ; “Progress in Fine Arts,” by S. 8. 
Conant; “American Literature,” by Edwin P. Whipple; 
•‘American Jurisprudence ;■’ “Medical and Sanitary Pro- 
gress ;” “Humanitarian Progress, ” by C. L. Brace ; “Social- 
istic Development,” by Charles Nordhoff ; “Manners of the 
Century,” by George WilUam Curtis ; “ Religious Develop- 
ments,” by the Bov. John F. Hurst, D. D. Among the con- 
tinuations are “The Stone Age of Europe,” a geological 
paper treating an abstruse subject from the popular stand- 
point. John Hay paraphrases the story of the blind man 
cured by the Saviour, and, as usual in such cases, weakens 
the simple impressiveness of the original. 
WiNCUEi.L’s “ Sketches of Creation,” devotes a chapter to the 
great fresh water lakes and Niagara Falls, drawn from geological 
data. There is no question but fit one time the sea filled the basin 
of Lake Ontario, and probably the accumulated waters of the upper 
lakes, poured over the bluffs at Lewiston The level of the river 
was forty feet higher than at present, and fell in a series of cascades 
three hundred and seventy two feet. During the subsequent ages 
the mighty stream has dug a channel in the solid rock, seven miles 
long, two hundred and fifty feet deep and one thousand feet wide. 
THio material excavated and earned into Lake Ontario, is cquiva ent 
to three hundred and forty millions of cubic yards, and’ weighs 
seven billions of tons. From carefully prepared data, the retro- 
cession, or wearing away of the rocks, is about eleven inches a year, 
at which rate it would have taken thirty-five thousand years to ex- 
cavate the channel from Lewiston to the Falls. AVhen the lakes 
stood at the level above indicated, much of the now habitable i>or 
t ion of the west was submerged. Detroit and St. Clair rivers were 
obliterated, and Lake Huron was united to Lake Erie. Ltikc Mich- 
gau, AS at pi-esentl poured its surplus waters into Huron, hut a large 
mass flowed over the divide iuto the Des Plaines, and thence by 
the Illinois ta the sea. At that time the ocean held dominion as far 
north as Cairo, though northern floods were busily transporting ma- 
terial that was yet to form the tUtnre states of .Mississippi, Lonisi- 
BPfi apfi Texas, everything indicates that our prairies. were lb® 
bed of an Inland sea, and visitors to the Upper Mississippi cmIiihiI 
fall to have been struck by the water worn appearance of the rock* 
crowning the highest bluffs along the river. 
