TAL s heen ts oo iscO Ne eBeUele Le We TIEN 51 
SOME PAPERBACKS 
IN BRIEF: 
FAMILIES OF BIRDS, by Oliver 
L. Austin, Jr.; Golden Press, 1971 
200 pp., $1.95. Scientists have 
grouped some 9,600 known species 
of birds into 208 families of which 
172 are living and 36 are fossil. 
For those who are familiar with the 
grouping of species of birds, but 
have often been confused by the 
classification of the “family” this 
pocket guide should prove useful. 
Both scientific and common names 
are used for ‘easy indentification. 
The book lists the distribution, 
characteristics and habits of each 
family. 
THE PINE BARRENS, by John 
McPhee; Ballantine/Walden, 1971; 
172 pp., 95c. Incredible as it sounds, 
though New Jersey is noted for its 
high density of population, an area 
of 650,000 acres exist in the south 
central part of this eastern state, 
and it is a tract unknown to the 
crowded denizens of Manhattan and 
Boston. McPhee is a resident of 
Princeton, N.J., and writes for the 
New Yorker Magazine. Here he 
writes of the colorful people who 
still dwell in the barrens, of its his- 
tory and some of its vanished 
towns, Eighty-four different kinds 
of birds breed in the Pine Barrens. 
The most common bird found there 
is the towhee. 
WILD HERITAGE, by Sally Car- 
righar; Ballantine Books, 1971; 256 
pp., $1.25. “By the time that young 
animals reach maturity, most of 
them have absorbed from their 
parents teaching, or from sharing 
adult activities, all they will need 
to know for their everyday living.” 
With her usual competence, Sally 
Carrighar writes of the behavior 
patterns of animals: their aggres- 
siveness, their mating skills and 
instincts, their playful spirits, and 
their lives as parents. The science 
of the normal behavior of animals 
is called ethology — a new word 
and new science. 
—Raymond Mostek 
OLMSTEAD IN CHICAGO 
by Victory Post Ranney 
R. R. Donnelly and Sons, 1972 
$1.75 
Olmstead has been described as 
an environmental planner who let 
nature into the city. He designed 
17 large urban parks, among them 
Central Park in New York, Frank- 
lin Park in Boston, Mount Royal in 
Montreal, and Jackson and Wash- 
ington Parks in Chicago. He was a 
very much involved personality. 
He was active in the major issues 
of his day — politics, conservation, 
slavery, and health reform. A de- 
fender of Yosemite Park and Nia- 
gara Falls, he once served as edi- 
tor of the liberal “The Nation” 
magazine. Olmstead lived from 
1822 until 1903 and was a giant 
as a landscape planner — a vision- 
ary, far ahead of his time. 
He came to Chicago in 1868 to 
design the famed contour streets 
of Riverside, Ill., an area of 1,600 
acres on the DesPlaines River. It 
was to be an oasis of pure air, cool 
shade and village greens. Olmstead 
was responsible for Wooded Island 
in Jackson Park, and the general 
plan for the 1893 Columbian Ex- 
position. 
Miss Ranney does a commendable 
job in bringing Frederick Law 
Olmsted before a Chicago public 
which should know him better. 
Had more of his ideals been emu- 
lated, this would have been a better 
city. (The book may be ordered 
from the Open Lands Project at 53 
W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IIl. 
60603.) 
——Raymond Mostek 
