The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 56, July 1952 - April, 1953 Page: 166

Southwestern Historical Quarterly

we were now moving was a vast unit, biologically speaking, through-
out which soil, temperature, drainage, and plant and animal life were
much the same. ... We were experiencing a lesson in zoogeography.
As the author and his companions, Thomas Dearborn Bur-
leigh and the late John Bonner Semple, drove on, the character
of the country gradually change, and new species appeared mixed
in with those familiar on the Texas side, from which circumstance
the author drew further ecological inferences.
Being a scientist as well as an artist, Dr. Sutton calls attention
to interrelationships to which the layman is ordinarily insensitive.
Science presents an integrated view of nature-a unity, not a
fragmentation. The soaring vulture, as the author observes, is
not trying merely to spot a carcass to feed upon, as is generally
supposed, but is at the same time spying upon other forms of
life whose actions may indicate the whereabouts of a respectable
meal. Having no sense of smell, the vulture leans on the keen-
scented coyote and on odor-sensitive flies and beetles to guide
him to what he wants. He takes tips also from individuals of his
own kind and of related species whose instinct is also to soar
high while searching the ground for food. If a hawk, eagle, or
another vulture dips suddenly earthward, or abruptly changes
his course, the secret is out and other vultures aloft on the same
mission understand the signal, with the result that vultures rarely
dine alone.
Fortunately, the author, one of the outstanding painters of
birds in this country, illustrates the text with fourteen exquisite
water-colors and sixty-five pen-and-ink sketches. The University
of Oklahoma Press deserves especial praise for its part in passing
these fine studies on to the public with no more impairment of
the originals than the best reproductive processes involve.
Space permits hardly more than an unamplified expression of
admiration for this handsome volume. We should like to go into
detail concerning Plate III, showing the head of the bronzed
woodpecker with such genuine feeling for color, or the satisfying
presentation of coppery-tailed Trogon (Plate XI), or the almost
humorous rendering of the "chickeny" expression on the face of
the chachalaca (Plate VII). We lack space to quote passages
illustrating that always pleasing combination of scientific accu-

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