Bird -Lore The Birds of Eastern North America. Key to the Families and Species. By Charles B. Cory. Part I, Water Birds, pp. i-ix, 1-130; Part II, Land Birds, pp. i-ix,i3i-387. 4to. Numerous illustra- tions. Special edition printed for the Field Columbian Museum, Chicago, 111., 1899. Mr. Cory has spared neither pains nor expense to lighten the labors of young orni- thologists in the matter of identification. Arbitrary ' Keys ' arranged on apparently the simplest plans, a careful use of dis- tinguishing type, and numberless illustra- tions characterize this work, which will doubtless rank as its talented author's most valuable and important contribu- tion to the literature of ornithology. The present volumes contain only the analytical keys to families and species, and apparently are to be followed by others giving detailed descriptions of plumage and biographical matter. A list of the birds of Eastern North America, with the ranges of the species, is appended to the second volume. — F. M. C. Dickey Downy ; the Autobiography of a Bird. By Virginia Sharpe Patterson. Introduction by Hon. John F. Lacey, M.C. Drawings by Elizabeth M. Hal- lowell. Philadelphia, A. J. Rowland, 1899. i6mo, pp. 192, full-page coloro- types, 4. In this little volume the Bobolink re- counts the history of his life with particular reference to his experiences with man. Due regard has been paid to the known habits of the bird, and the book seems well designed to arouse the interest and enlist the sympathy of children in bird-life. The colored illustration of the Scarlet Tanager facing page 64 is wrongly labeled " Sum- mer Tanager," but beyond this slip we notice no errors. Congressman Lacey's introduction shows that its writer has an adequate conception of both the economic and aesthetic value of birds, of the evils of wantonly destroying them, and of the need for their protection. — F. M. C. Book News In the October number of 'The Osprey,' the announcement is made that Dr. Gill, the editor-in-chief, will hereafter be assisted by the following associate editors : Robert Ridgway, Leonhard Stejenger, Frederic A. Lucas, Charles W. Richmond, Paul Bartsch, William Palmer, Harry C. Ober- holser, and Wilmer Stone. Surely here is " a multitude of counsellors" whose co- operation is an assurance that ' The Os- prey ' will not only return to its former high plane, but will doubtless reach a level of excellence before unknown. We note with pleasure that the somewhat too appropriate yellow cover, used during the preceding editorial administration, has been changed for one of Bird-Lore s hue. From the announcement of the Massa- chusetts Audubon Society of the Audubon Calendar, issued by them for 1900, we quote the following: "The calendar con- sists of twelve large plates of exquisite drawings of birds, one for each month, re- produced in colors with all the spirit and fidelity of the original water-color paint- ings. Descriptive text of the birds on each plate. Frank M. Chapman, Olive Thorne Miller, Florence A. Merriam, AbbottThayer, Mabel Osgood Wright, Wm. T. Davis, William Brewster, Ralph Hoffman, Brad- ford Torrey, M. A. Wilcox, Harriet E. Richards, H. E. Parkhurst, have contrib- uted original paragraphs. Size 9^ by i2]4. inches. In paper box. Price 75 cents. Address orders to Taber-Prang Art Com- pany, Springfield, Mass." That the editors of St. Nicholas realize the importance of developing childrens' interest in nature studies, is evidenced by the establishment in their magazine for 1900, of a department of ' Nature and Sci- ence.' It will be in charge of Mr. E. F. Bigelow, formerly editor of 'The Ob- server,' and now of ' Popular Science. ' Lists of the birds of the Middle Gulf States are so few in number that bird students will welcome a fully annotated catalogue of the birds of Louisiana, by Prof. Geo. E. Beyer, of Tulane Univer- sity, shortly to be published by the Society of Louisiana Naturalists.
