24 THE CONDOR Vol. XVI ning. They would gulp the meat down just as fast as they could, when I cut it in small bits, and were able to tear the meat into shreds when in large pieces. On the 9th of August I returned to the nesting site with the two captives in a basket. I liberated them at the edge of the thicket and they flew up and lit near the top of a small fir tree where they behaved for a time as though quite out of place. I remained quiet and soon heard a call from a young hawk on the other. side of the thicket and was surprised soon after to see the mother bird fly to the tree where the two liberated hawks were perching. I had hardly expected to find the old and young still so. near the nest. I was not able to remain at the nesting site any longer, and this was the last I saw of the hawks. From the amount of feathers scattered over the ground in the thicket I am of the opinion that young birds formed the exclusive diet of this family of Sharp- shins. THE PEOPLE'S BREAD A Critique of "Western Bird Guide"* By WILLIAM LEON DAWSON E HAVE LONG needed an accurate color guide and manual, of conve- nient pocket size, to facilitate the recognition of our birds afield. Whether or not the "Western Bird Guide" is the book we have been looking for, it is the purpose of this paper to enquire. The dimensions of this little book are admirable--?2X3?X53? inches--just right to slip into the pocket and take along for an all-day hike. And ?,l?en it is understood that the 255 pages of this book contain 23t cuts in color, representing nearly 5o0 species of Western birds, together with descriptive text, and that its price ranges from $t.25 down, its importance as a formative element in the instruction of our West- ern youth is apparent. It becomes of the first interest, therefore, to ask whether it also answers the tests of scholarship, accuracy, and substantial worth. We are not told anything as to the authorship of this little manual, but we may assume that it was conceived and partly sketched in by Chester A. Reed, and that his recent lamented death left the task to other and less experienced hands to finish. If this be the case, the book was brilliantly conceived but indifferently executed. Fortunately, it is not incumbent upon us to apportion praise or blame to individuals as such in this connection, but only to judge of the result, that which is offered to us in the name of ornithological bread. The late Mr. Reed was one of comparatively few American bird painters who could catch the authentic character of the birds and bit it off in happy, con- fident fashion. While not of the first class, his work usually ranked high, and the contributions of his brush are what give this volume such value as it bas. "C. A. R." drops out on page t t4, and the plates immediately following cease te have any defin;?tive value,' descending at times to the level of caricature. Shades of Kit Carson! Is that a'-Roadrunner? But then, "H. F. H." never saw the bird, and he is doing the best he can. The Coppery-tailed Trogon and some others re- mind us of the souvenir series once put out by the "Arm and Hammer" brand of soda. The Woodpeckers are better, some of them quite decent in fact. Having gotten up speed again our aspirant takes a bad header over the Swift hhrdle, and rising, bruised and angry, proceeds to slaughter the Hummers and Flycatchers.,
- Western Bird Guide [ Birds of the Rockies and West to the Pacific [ Illustrated by ChesterA. Reed, B.S. I
Harry F. Harvey [ R. I. Brasher [ 19.13 [ Doubleday, Page & Co., Garden City, N. . Flexible leather, $1.25.
