24 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XVI 
ning. They would gulp the meat clown just as fast as they could, when I cut it in 
small bits, and were able to tear the meat into shreds when in large pieces. 
On the 9th of August I returned to the nesting- site with the two captives in 
a basket. I liberated them at the edge of the thicket and they flew up and lit near 
the top of a small fir tree where they behaved for a time as though cpaite out of 
place. I remained cjuiet and soon heard a call from a young hawk on the other 
side of the thicket and was surprised soon after to see the mother bird fly to the 
tree where the two liberated hawks were perching. I had hardly expected to find 
the old and young still so near the nest. 1 was not able to remain at the nesting- 
site any longer, and this was the last I saw of the hawks. 
From the amount of feathers scattered over the ground in the thicket I am of 
the opinion that young birds formed the exclusive diet of this family of Sharp- 
shins. 
TME PEOPLE’S BREAD 
A Criticiue of “Western Bird Guide”* 
By WILLIAM LEON DAWSON 
W E HA\'E LONG needed an accurate color guide and manual, of conve- 
nient pocket size, to facilitate the recognition of our birds afield. 
Whether or not the "Western Bird Guide" is the book we have been 
looking for, it is the purpose of this paper to enepure. The dimensions of this 
little book are admirable — inches — just right to slip into the 
pocket and take along for an all-day hike. And when it is understood that the 
255 pages of this book contain 231 cuts in color, representing nearly 500 species 
of Western birds, together with descriptive text, and that its price ranges from 
$1.25 dcKVJi, its importance as a formative element in the instruction of our West- 
ern youth is apparent. It becomes of the first interest, therefore, to ask whether 
it also answers the tests of scholarship, accuracy, and substantial worth. 
We are not told anything as to the authorship of this little manual, but we 
may assume that it was conceived and partly sketched in by Chester A. Reed, and 
that his recent lamented death left the task to other and less experienced hands 
to finish. If this be the case, the book was brilliantly conceived but indifferently 
executed. Fortunately, it is not incumbent upon us to apportion praise or blame 
to individuals as such in this connection, but only to judge of the result, that 
which is offered to us in the name of ornithological bread. 
The late Mr. Reed was one of comparatively few American bird painters 
who could catch the authentic character of the birds and hit it oft’ in happy, con- 
fident fashion. While not of the first class, his work usually ranked high, and 
the contributions of his brush are what give this volume such value as it has. 
"C. A. R.’’ drops out on page 114, and the plates immediately following cease to 
h.ave any definitive value, descending at times to the level of caricature. Shades of 
Kit Carson! Is that a Roadrunner? But then, "H. F. H." never saw the birtl, 
and he is doing the best he can. The Coppery-tailed Trogon and some others re- 
mind us of the souvenir series once put out by the “Arm and Hammer" brand of 
soda. The Woodpeckers are better, some of them quite decent in fact. Having- 
gotten up speed again our aspirant takes a had header over the Swift hurdle, and 
rising, bruised and angry, proceeds to slaughter the Hummers and Flycatchers. 
* -W'estern Bird Guide I Birds of the Rockies and West to the Pacific I Illustrated by Chester A. Reed. B-.S. I 
Harry F. Har\-ey I R. I. Brasher | 1913 I Doubleday, Page & Co.. Garden City, N. Y. Flexible leather, $1.25. 
