. The Canadian field-naturalist. 160 The Canadian Field-Naturalist [Vol. XXXIV. BOOK NOTICE. Birds of eastern Canada, Memoir 104, No. 3, Biological Series, Geological Survey of Canada, by P. A. Taverner: King's Printer, Ottawa, 1919. 297 pages, octavo with 50 colored plates, illustrat- ing 105 species and varieties; price 50 cents. The introduction to this work is unusually attrac- tive, and will be found both interesting and instruc- tive to the student of Birds. It deals with classifi- cation, distribution and other problems and even has a chapter on Attracting Birds about the home. The inde
. The Canadian field-naturalist. 160 The Canadian Field-Naturalist [Vol. XXXIV. BOOK NOTICE. Birds of eastern Canada, Memoir 104, No. 3, Biological Series, Geological Survey of Canada, by P. A. Taverner: King's Printer, Ottawa, 1919. 297 pages, octavo with 50 colored plates, illustrat- ing 105 species and varieties; price 50 cents. The introduction to this work is unusually attrac- tive, and will be found both interesting and instruc- tive to the student of Birds. It deals with classifi- cation, distribution and other problems and even has a chapter on Attracting Birds about the home. The index appears very complete and comprises English, French, and scientific names. A most useful feature, that might well be copied in similar works is the description of the different classes, orders and families. Too often the young student is left to surmise as to the scope of these divisions of the science. One of the most attractive features of the book IS the inclusion of the section "Field ; No other part of the work will receive as earnest study from puzzled nature students, to whom unidentified birds are a frequent experience. After one has pursued birds long enough to have identified 75 species, he is apt to make a good guess at the iden- tity of any unknown, and needs only confirmation from a book to change surmise into certainty, and the section under consideration provides easy refer- ence for such a puzzle. The key is good, but if a key is worth providing, it is worth while to carry it out to the limit, and not abandon the seeker after knowledge at the broad heading "Sparrows," and leave him to grope through 34 different species, when a color key could easily have been given on a few added pages. The colored plates, by Frank Hennessey, are on the whole, very creditable. Indeed, the colors are exceptionally true to nature. It would seem to the writer that this book illustrates well a missed oppor- tunity. To certain of a large circle of readers,
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