358 Recently published Ornithological Works. 
for 1905 is contained an excellent account by the late Prof. 
Newton of the three Naumanns and of the festival held in 
their honour at Cotheu, when the “Naumann-denkmal” was 
inaugurated. This is followed by a report on the “ Pro¬ 
ceedings ” of the International Ornithological Congress of 
1905. We may also call attention to Mr. Herman’s important 
essay on Geronticus eremita and its former existence in Europe 
in vol. xiv. (1907). 
27. f The Auk.’ 
[The Auk. A Quarterly Journal of Ornithology. Vol. xxv. Nos. 2, 
3, 4 (April-October 1908).] 
The April number of our American contemporary begins 
with a long article by Mr. C. C. Adams on “ The Ecological 
Succession of Birds,” a title somewhat in the nature of a 
“hard saying” for the multitude. The author considers it 
high time that more attention was devoted to the nature 
of the birds’ surroundings, and to the effect of the permanence 
or change of those surroundings on the birds themselves. He 
also thinks that present works refer too exclusively to political 
or other convenient “ areas,” which are often of a highly com¬ 
posite nature—hill, moor, marsh, and so forth. He speaks 
for his own country, of course, and not for Britain, where we 
are deluged with books on the birds of the marsh, the birds of 
the shore, and the like; but we quite agree with him in his 
estimate of the importance of a bird’s environment, and the 
changes which that environment makes in the creature itself, 
if indeed it does not necessitate its departure. 
In the April and October numbers, Mr. Buthven Deane 
gives details of a letter of Audubon to his family, of his 
letters of introduction carried on his Missouri River Ex¬ 
pedition, and of the fate of the copperplates of the folio 
edition of the f Birds of America/ coupled with a sketch of 
the engravers. Mr. Deane is a well-known authority on 
such matters, and w^e are glad to read the articles from his 
pen referring to the great American Ornithologist, and also 
that by Dr. C. H. Merriam on the “King Cameos of 
Audubon” in the October number. 
