38 THE AUDUBON? BU Lil een 
Robert Boyle, an editor for Sports Illustrated, knows the river well. Ar 
avid fisherman, he describes many of his personal experiences with the sport 
Fortunately for the non-fisherman, his tales and observations are distributec 
through much of the book, so one can skip those sections, if so inclined 
Among those he caught are smelt, shiner, yellow perch, herring, sturgeon 
sunfish, bass and many others, indicating the wide variety. His other ob 
servations of nature are exellent. 
The Hudson River has gained new fame recently because of attempts by 
Consolidated Edison to build a huge pumped storage power plant in thy 
Hudson River Gorge on Storm King Mountain. The Scenic Hudson Rive: 
Preservation Conference has been formed to forestall the plan. With vigor 
ous leadership, a big campaign chest, and clever public relations, the Confer. 
ence has been able to stall the utility firm. Boyle describes the action wit! 
great sympathy and support. 
—Raymond Mostel 
PICTORIAL GUIDE TO THE BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA. 
By Leonard Lee Rue III. Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 201 Park Ave. So., 
New York. 1970. $12.50. 368 pages. Illustrated 
A prolific writer and contributor to many magazines, Leonard Lee Rue IL 
has had a rich life as a gamekeeper, camp ranger and a trail director. Ou 
of his personal experiences and observations, he has written a fine volum« 
on some of the more common birds of the North American continent. Hé 
has provided both the text and the photographs for this work. 
He has followed a set pattern in the description of these birds. A 
distribution map is provided for each species, together with a drawing 0 
the bird. This is followed by a few basic facts concerning size, habits, nest 
etc. Two and three pages of text follow, providing the reader with mor 
information on the species. Invariably, black and white photographs art 
inserted with each description to enhance the story. 
More personal narratives would have enlivened the book. Rue shoul 
have dipped into his diary more frequently to provide more of us witl 
vicarious pleasures. His encounter with a Red-Tailed Hawk is one 0 
the best parts of the book. —Raymond Mosiel 
fl fi 1a fl 
Chicago Collection Goes to Cornell 
Mrs. Margaret Morse Nice, noted Chicago ornithologist and honorar} 
director of IAS, has given a library of bird books and thousands of reprint 
of technical articles on ornithology to Cornell University’s Laboratory 0 
Ornithology. Her gift included 50 years’ correspondence with ornithologist 
throughout the world. This portion of the gift will be housed in thé 
University archives. 
Mrs. Nice is particularly known for her studies of the Song Sparrow 
which she studied in her back yard using color banding techniques t 
recognize individual birds. Her studies resulted in two books on the lif 
of the Song Sparrow. She also is the author of “The Watcher at thé 
Nest,” a classic study of bird territory and mating. The book is illustratec 
ky Roger Tory Peterson. Mrs. Nice has been review editor for many year 
of “Bird Banding,” national-circulated magazine. 
