Birdcraft : a Field - Book of Two Hundred Song, Game,
and Water Birds. By Mabel Osgood Wright. Illustrated. (Macmillan and Co.)—New England ornithology gains little in interest from a perusal of the early chapters of this book. They are desultory impressions of the changes made by the seasons in bird life in the Eastern States, with remarks on the spring song of the commoner birds, nest-building, and the habitat of water-birds, which are mentioned by family and not by name. From the last chapter it is difficult to glean a single fact of practical interest. But the greater part of the work is a catalogue of two hundred birds of the United States, arranged In families, containing a systematic description of each species, its nest, eggs, range, and the character of its song or note. The illustrations, taken from the works of Audubon, Dr. Warren's "Birds of Pennsylvania," Dr. Kay's "Ornithology of the State of New York," and Mr. J. L. Ridgway's illustrations to Dr. Fisher's "Hawks and Owls of the United States," are gcod and careful ; but the short notes on the habits of the species are too slight and amateurish to be either useful or interesting.
Previous page
