Book News and Reviews
The First Book of Birds. By Olive Thorne Miller. With 8 colored and
12 plain plates and 20 figures in the
text. Boston and New York, Hough-
ton, Mifflin & Co. 1899. i2mo, pp.
viii-f-149.
Text-books based on successful experi-
ences in teaching generally prove to be of
value, and the present volume is no ex-
ception to the rule. It contains what its
author has found to be the most adequate
definition of the bird in her talks on this
little-known creature to boys and girls. It
is well-named a 'First Book of Birds,'
Mrs. Miller's aim being to arouse an in-
telligent interest in bird-life before con-
fronting the inquirer with ' keys ' and dis-
couraging identification puzzles. She,
therefore, begins with the nest, and out-
lines the development of the bird, follow-
ing this section by chapters on the bird's
language, food, migration, intelligence,
etc., and concluding with sections on ' How
He is Made,' and ' His Relations with Us. '
The matter is well chosen, and so admirably
arranged that no attentive reader can
fail to receive a clear and logical concep-
tion of the chief events in a bird's life. —
F. M. C.
Field Key to the Land Birds. By
Edward Knobel. Boston, Bradlee
Whidden. 1899. i6mo, pp. 55, numer-
ous cuts in the text and 10 colored
plates.
This is an attempt to make plain the
way of the field student, to whom every
aid is welcome. One hundred and fifty-
five land birds are divided into four groups,
according to their size, and are arranged
on nine colored plates, in the preparation
of which the publishers have evidently
struggled with the evils of cheap lithog-
raphy, or some inexpensive color pro-
cess. Experience in this direction makes
us a lenient critic, and our standard has
been reduced from the level of perfection
to that of recognizability ; that is, if a
plate is sufficiently good to unmistakably
represent a certain species, even crudely,
we view it solely from a practical stand-
point, and admit that it doubtless serves its
purpose. Applying this test to the plates
under consideration, we are forced to
state that, although fairly familiar with
the species figured, we are in many cases
unable to name the figures.
The text is condensed and to the point,
and the pen and ink illustrations liberally
scattered through it will be found useful
by beginners, to whom the book may be
commended.— F. M. C.
Our Common Birds. Suggestions for the
Study of Their Life and Work. By
C. F. Hodge, Ph.D., Clark University,
Worcester, Mass. Food-chart and Draw-
ings by Miss Helen A. Ball. 8vo,
PP- 34. 3 half-tones, 8 line cuts in text.
10 cts. per copy, $6 per 100 copies.
This is a contribution to the pedagogics
of ornithology which cannot fail to interest
every one desirous of seeing bird studies
introduced in our schools. It opens with
a chapter on the ' Biology of Our Common
Birds, ' which shows the importance of
becoming acquainted with them, giving, in
fact, the reasons which have actuated Pro-
fessor Hodge in his work in the schools of
Worcester.
The nature of this work and the success
which has attended it are set forth in the
succeeding pages, whose contents are in-
dicated by the sub-titles ' The Bird
Census,' ' The Food Chart' (A very useful
compilation by Miss Helen A. Ball, show-
ing graphically the food of our com-
moner birds), ' Bird Study in the School-
room,' 'Taming Our Wild Birds and
Attracting Them to Our Houses,' and a
' Life Chart of Our Common Birds. '
Lack of space prohibits a description of
the methods of bird-study given under
these headings. Some of the results of
their practical application, however, are
to be found in the concluding chapter on
the ' Ten-to-One Clubs' formed in the
Worcester schools, which were joined by
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