Abstract
MR. FLAGG is evidently an enthusiastic lover and close observer of nature in all her moods and phases, but this more from the sentimental and poetic than from the scientific point of view. His book consists of a great number of essays on various aspects of nature as manifested in the New England country, the most original being on the songs of the birds of that region. That he must be a very patient and very minute observer is evidenced by the fact that he has actually embodied in musical notation the songs of some of the principal singing birds of New England. We have no means of testing the correctness of Mr. Flagg's interpretation of these singers, but we should think, judging from the very careful observations he has evidently made, that they are generally correct. The work also contains essays on the aspects of nature in the various months of the year, and on such subjects as “The Haunts of Flowers,” “Water Scenes,” “The Field and the Garden,” “Picturesque Animals,” “The Flowerless Plants,” “Swallows: their Hibernation,” “Changes in the Habits of Birds,” &c. Mr. Flagg's essays, we must say, are on the whole rather tedious, reminding us often of the tiresome moral essayists of last century, although they frequently contain passages of quite poetic beauty. There is also a sufficient amount of novelty about many of the subjects to add interest to his observations, and many facts are recorded concerning the habits of the New England birds that will give the book some value in the eyes of the naturalist. Those who love a quiet dreamy country life will find much throughout the book to interest them. Mr. Flagg, as we have said, evidently possesses the power of minute observation, and we would recommend him to bring himself abreast of the ornithology, and indeed general natural history, of the day, and carry on his observations from a more scientific point of view, which he can easily do, and still find scope enough for the satisfaction of his sentimentalism; he might thus render substantial service to science. Judging from what he says about the “hibernation” of swallows, he seems to be unaware that anything has been written on the subject of the migration of birds since the days of Gilbert White. Mr. Flagg's essays want the simplicity and naturalness and geniality of the Letters of that minute observer.
The Birds and Seasons of New England.
By Wilson Flagg. With Illustrations. (Boston: Osgood and Co. London: Trübner and Co., 1875).
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[Book Reviews]. Nature 12, 211 (1875). https://doi.org/10.1038/012211c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/012211c0