The Zoologist/4th series, vol 2 (1898)/Issue 686/Notices of New Books
NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS.
The description of the vertebrate animals of British India, in eight volumes, is—by this concluding and fourth volume on birds—now completed. India has not only been the trainingground for our soldiers, but has been an area—and long will be — productive of the best traditions in zoology and zoologists. We need not recapitulate the well-known names that were made in India and have become household words in zoology, and which, with perhaps the exception of Ferdinand Sloliczka, have been those of our own countrymen; nor is it necessary to recall the many instances in which the first zoological inspiration was received in that torrid clime which one usually leaves, but which one never forgets. Again, its field naturalists, or in other words its sportsmen, have always been renowned and will continue to exist; in fact, our Indian Empire is a zoological influence from which few sympathetic spirits have escaped.
In the present work the number of Indian birds regarded as distinct species is estimated as 1626, which fairly agrees with Hume's enumeration in his 'Catalogue' of 1879, which reached a nett total of 1608; and perhaps this expresses a somewhat synthetic concord between good authorities, when the personal equation of individual discrimination between species and varieties is considered. It must also be remembered that of the four volumes devoted to Aves in this series, the first and second were contributed by Mr. E.W. Oates, and the remaining two by Mr. Blanford, so that the general specific consensus of opinion is still more marked. Vol IV., now before us, is devoted to the gallinaceous, wading, and swimming birds.
Ornithological publications such as these are of course primarily intended for the Indian or Oriental student; they may be expected to say a last word in synonymy, and to serve a ready means for the identification of species. But their value extends over a larger field than the faunistic area in which they are centred, as many species have a wide range and their distribution is fully treated, so that in the problem of zoogeography the volumes must be shelved for consultation by the investigators of other faunas. We frequently find surprising additions in unexpected migrants. Thus, in the Petrels, our old maritime friend the "Cape Pigeon" (Daption capensis) is included on the authority of a specimen shot in the Gulf of Manaar, between Ceylon and the mainland, the skin of which is preserved in the Hume collection.
The completion of the vertebrate portion of this work should let loose some unused energy among Indian zoologists. They may now accept, and cease to too ardently criticise—for some years at least—the nomenclature of the series. We do not say that finality has been obtained; that, at least so far as specific treatment is concerned, is a question for the future, and must be based on more extensive knowledge than exists at present. But the Indian ornithologist can now estimate that his work is largely one of observation; he possesses a formula of identification that will be hard to beat, and with which he may be expected to remain content. The bionomical field is now the one to explore. Thanks to Messrs. Blanford and Oates one branch of Indian ornithology is thoroughly brought up to date, and is in line with the best current scientific conceptions. If the ubiquitous theorist can now be controlled, and observers take up the work, the volumes comprising the 'Fauna of British India' will not have been written in vain.
This is a book written by a lady, and refers to North American birds. It is a somewhat sumptuous work possessing fifty-two coloured plates, and is what may be styled an extras-cientific rather than a non-scientific volume. It is intended to promote the knowledge of birds, but is not in any sense a primer of ornithology. Just as we sometimes find a Professor of natural history who is not a naturalist, so we have in our authoress a lover of birds who is clearly not a scientific ornithologist. With this we have no complaint to make, for under the present circumstances we rather welcome the innovation, as the book makes no pretence to be anything but "an introductory acquaintance with one hundred and fifty birds commonly found in the gardens, meadows, and woods about our homes"; and systems are but a set of propositions to yet secure finality, while all should know their birds and their habits. We like the book for its purely American independence. Emerson has exclaimed for his countrymen—"We will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will speak our own minds." And certainly our authoress has proved her emancipation on this point, for we find a perfectly new treatment of the subject. Thus after a rough sketch of "Bird Families" we have "Habitats of Birds," in which species are grouped according to the positions they frequent, such as in the upper or lower parts of trees, among foliage and twigs or on conspicuous perches, birds of the woods or their edges, birds found near water, birds that sing on the wing, &c. Then the birds are enumerated according to their seasonal appearance; again, according to size; and lastly,—and this is the method of the book,—"grouped according to colour." It is thus abundantly clear that we are alone with the birds, and for the nonce we may well discard all our classifications if we are with any pleasure to read these pages. The treatment is, therefore, an individual one; each bird is as unconnected and free from all systematic restraints as though a scientific ornithology had never spread its net of avian order. We pass from the Titmouse to the Jay; from the Nightjar to the Cuckoo. Colour is here the main plank of an alliance.
If our English Jay is evil in the sight of the gamekeeper, the Canada Jay (Perisoreus canadensis) is answerable for a long list of offences. We read that, according to Mr. Hardy, there is scarcely anything " which can be eaten that they will not take; and I had one steal all my candles, pulling them out endwise, one by one, from a piece of birch bark in which they were rolled; and another peck a large hole in a keg of castile soap. A duck, which I had picked and laid down for a few minutes, had the entire breast eaten out by one or more of these birds. I have seen one alight in the middle of my canoe and peck away at the carcase of a beaver I had skinned. They often spoil deer saddles by pecking into them near the kidneys. They do great damage to the trappers by stealing the bait from traps set for Martens and Minks, and by eating trapped game, &c."
'Bird Neighbours' is written by a lover of birds, and will increase that love in others who may consult its pages. We must not expect to find science everywhere, but nature is universal; and he who has learnt to love the last will almost inevitably seek the first.
This volume is devoted to the avifauna of the district of Montreal. The area covered by the work "is principally the island of Montreal, situated at the confluence of the Ottawa with the St. Laurence River, thirty-two miles long by about ten miles broad at the widest part." It is the centre of attraction for a large number of North American birds during the migratory periods in the spring and fall, and many species remain to breed. Two hundred and fifty-four birds are enumerated, arranged in a somewhat unfamiliar classification, commencing with the Podicipidæ (Grebes) and terminating with the Turdidæ. The first part is devoted to an enumeration, with bionomical notes; the second part consists of "abridged descriptions" of the species. The last portion of the volume consists of "Original Sporting Sketches" by various authors.
The book is naturally of local interest in the first place; but is also valuable for material in the study of avian geographical distribution. A few plates are given, but these are of a somewhat primitive description, recalling those in old works of travel.
The preface is dated 1896; but the volume has only just reached our hands.