118 
NATURK STUDY. 
and become a reputable and beloved member of the com¬ 
munity.” 
Here endeth the first lesson. 
A New Bird Book. 
“Stories of Bird Life” is the truthful title of a neat little 
volume byT. Gilbert Pearson, Professor of Biology and 
Geology in the State Normal and Industrial College, 
Greensboro, N. C. The twenty chapters give entertaining 
accounts of the lives and habits of as many birds and groups 
of birds, told in a pleasing manner and with a careful re¬ 
gard for facts. There is no such nonsense as appeared in 
a book for children not very long ago, which, among other 
things, stated that the woodpecker, by tapping with his 
bill, found a hollow tree, and drilling through the outer 
wood, and found the place ready made for his nest. 
Professor Pearson evidently loves birds, but does not 
weary us with a reiteration of a fact sufficiently obvious 
in itself, and he knows the birds that he writes about—has 
observed them carefully, and tells his stories at first hand. 
Moralizing and theorizing are purposely avoided, but the 
moral of each story is made plain by the story itself, and 
the inquisitive child will find plenty of questions suggest¬ 
ed, with not a few hints of possible answers. 
There are two appendices, one containing hints to teach¬ 
ers and pupils, and the other full descriptions of the birds 
referred to in the text. The book will prove a valuable 
aid to this department of nature study, both in the school 
and in the home. John T. Ridgway supervised the illus¬ 
trations, and the volume is handsomely printed by the B. 
F. Johnson Publishing Company of Richmond, Va. 
