28 THE AUD UBON BB Uriel ike bale 
STUDIES IN THE LIFE HISTORY OF THE SONG SPARROW, by Margaret 
Morse Nice. Dover Publications, Inc., 180 Varick St., New York 14, N. Y. 
In two volumes, paper-back. Vol. I, 246 pp., 33 tables, 18 charts, with 
additional maps and halftones. Vol. II, 328 pp., 26 tables, 7 illustrations. 
1964. $1.75 each. 
Our members will welcome the republication of Dr. Nice’s classic 
monographs on the Song Sparrow, which have been out of print for over 
20 years. Even now, her books may still be regarded as models of the 
finest technique in bird study, record-keeping, precise observation, research, 
analysis of findings, and presentation of results. 
Dr. Nice conducted her original studies over a period of eight years at 
Columbus, Ohio, first observing two pairs of Song Sparrows, and later many 
banded birds. She followed individuals from the egg to their eventual 
death, establishing complete family histories. Eventually she extended her 
studies to other species, always with the same detailed analysis of every 
aspect of behavior. 
Volume I: “A Population Study of the Song Sparrow” was published 
in 1937 as Volume IV of the Transactions of the Linnaen Society of New 
York. Here Dr. Nice covers Song Sparrow environment, weights and 
measurements, ecology, migration, territory, sexual behavior, nesting, eggs, 
incubation, care of the young, success and failure, cowbird parasitization, 
survival of young and adults, and population problems. There are appendices 
on her technique, statistics on banding, nesting censuses, data on cowbird 
young, and meteorological tables. 
Volume II: “The Behavior of the Song Sparrow and Other Passerines” 
first appeared in 1943 as Volume VI of the Transactions. Here we find the 
ultimate in scientific scholarship. Dr. Nice covers behavior of passerines in 
general, comparing each aspect with her knowledge of the behavior of the 
Song Sparrow. The first chapters discuss the development, increasing acti- 
vity, innate and learned behavior of the young Song Sparrow. Next comes 
a review of the development of all passerines, followed by postjuvenal 
behavior, fall and winter activities, awakening, roosting, song in all its 
aspects, territory, courtship, pair formation, nesting cycles, care and defense 
of the young, and recognition of enemies. There are complete bibliographies 
at the end of each book. 
Most of us have known Dr. Nice for many years as a past Director 
and now an Honorary Vice-President of the Illinois Audubon Society. 
Many of us do not know that she is also a Past President of the Wilson Orni- 
thological Society and the Chicago Ornithological Society, and has served 
as an Associate Editor of The Wilson Bulletin and of Bird Banding. Not 
long ago she received the Brewster Medal of the American Ornithologists’ 
Union for her monumental studies of the Song Sparrow. 
The Dover Books, by the way, are larger than pocket size. In spite of 
an obvious typographical blunder on the cover of Volume I, the books are 
carefully printed, well bound, and make an attractive addition to one’s 
library. Each book includes an absorbing catalog of other reprints of natural 
history classics, ranging from insects, ferns, trees, birds and mammals to 
‘he reports of the expeditions of the great naturalists of the past. Some of 
these volumes have not been available for many years. 
Paul H. Lobik, 22W681 Tamarack Drive, Glen Ellyn, Ill. 60137 
