Horned toads and whales, dragon flies and opossums, as well as many other forms of life, both common and rare, have their turn at entertaining the reader, and their inmost thoughts seem to have been read by this enthusiastic and peculiarly successful scientist.
It is a good book for children of all ages, but wherever it is introduced into any family the younger children will uniformly have to wait till their elders have enjoyed it, for no age can be proof against its charms.
Birds of North America. Illustrated Descriptive Manual to Beard's Natural History Charts. Potter & Putnam Company, 63 Fifth Ave., New York.
This convenient little pamphlet contains brief descriptions of some of the most common birds, the eagle, the owl, the parrot, the crow, the turkey, the quail, the ostrich, the heron, the swan, and the penguin. It is closely printed with numerous illustrations of the structure and forms of the typical birds of each sort, and gives in language that can well be understood by children, the principal facts of interest.
It is sold at 20 cents, and will be found valuable to a large class of teachers who are in search of material to interest their pupils in the common birds of our country.
Nests and Eggs of North American Birds, by Oliver Davie, author of "Methods in the Art of Taxidermy," etc. The Landon Press, Columbus, Ohio.
This is the fifth edition of an excellent work that has already won wide recognition as an exposition of how the birds build and lay. It has been revised and enlarged considerably, and now contains a profusion of cuts that will be highly appreciated. Recognizing the difficulty the mind has in grasping the entire meaning of a written description, the author has added to his text a large number of well-executed drawings of the birds most difficult to describe and has given their nests and eggs the attention their importance to the naturalist demands.
The book consists of over five hundred pages octavo, closely printed, and arranged so as to constitute a convenient and exhaustive encyclopedia of the birds of this country and their nests and eggs. Although the title of the book would lead one to think the matter does not pertain to the habits of the birds, nor their appearance, it is more complete in this respect than many books written ostensibly to describe the birds themselves, and in many of its articles almost complete life histories are to be found. The nesting habits and the hatching of the eggs have led the author on till the work has become a very readable one for those who are by no means specialists on eggs and nests. The writer has modestly disclaimed attempting to cover so much ground and refers his readers to the works of Coues and Ridgway for further particulars.
The numbers of those who do not let a summer pass without looking into the lives of the birds which visit their country residences are rapidly growing, and this growth of interest on the part of thousands who do not wish to become experts but desire to enjoy their feathered neighbors and their products most fully, has made room for a large sale of this work. It has but to become known to be possessed by all cultured households where trips to the country are annually made.
To know the birds of one's locality by name and to be able to identify their nests and watch their doings with some degree of intelligence is an accomplishment which many desire and are annually attaining. With this work in one's possession few birds can remain in the vicinity without being identified. The gladness and loss of selfish thoughts and motives that are the reward of all those who lose their hearts to the birds and their growing families do far more good in the world than any amount of drugs and dieting.