132 



The Ottawa Naturalist 



[Vol. XXXII. 



The singing of the birds is not to be explained by 

 any such previous dry season though it may have 

 been influenced by the unusual supply of spring f ocd. 

 It is now pretty well known that food has a consid- 

 erable influence upon the seasonal activities of birds 

 and under abnormal condi'icns enough sexually ex- 

 citing food might have been produced to induce a 

 limited effect in this direction. 



That migrations should be disorganized by an 

 unseasonable mild spell is to be expected. Some 

 birds are greatly influenced by weather conditions, 

 usually early spring and late fall migrants, whilst 

 others coming and going long before actual need of 

 migration is evident to us, migrate irrespective of 

 early or late seasons and can be expected to appear 

 and disappear with almost calendar-like regularity 

 year after year. 



P. A. T. 



In The Canadian Boy, Vol 1, Sept. 1918, 

 p. 127, appears "The Naturalist's Nest," conducted 

 by R. W. Tufts, Wolfville, N.S. 



An albino robin is reported and described; then 

 follows a discussion on the various eastern species of 

 hawks in which the sheep are weeded from the 

 goats in a manner that is satisfactory to the natur- 

 alist and interesting and instructive to the Boys 

 (Scouts) in whose interest the periodical is pub- 

 lished. The only point of criticism the reviewer 

 feels like mentioning is evidently an accidental 

 omission. It says of the Cooper's Hawk that it "is 

 much like the Goshawk in appearance and general 

 habits" without calling attention to the fact that the 

 similarity of appearances only hoMs through the 

 juvenility of the species, that in the adult plumage the 

 two are as different in color as they are in size. 



It is the firm opinion of the writer that the most 

 practical method of educating the public in the 

 economic and other value of birds, especially those 

 against which there is a strong popular prejudice, is 

 by appealing to the young and growing mind. It 

 is most difficult to redirect established currents 

 of thought, but the boy becomes a man within a few 

 years and early impressions influence the whole after 

 life. Such departments as this in juvenile litera- 

 ture are to be encouraged in every way. The his- 

 tory of great movements in modern times seems to 

 indicate that it is only after several generations that 

 fundamental changes in established thought and 

 ideals can take place. The first generation view a 

 radically new thought with suspicion,' the second 

 to whom it is not new endures and succeeding ones 

 embrace it on its merits. Let us by all means get 

 after the children at once. 



P. A. T. 



In the Aul( for October, 1918, are several papers 

 of interest to Canadian ornithologists. 



Notes on North American Birds (pp. 463- 

 467) is the title of a paper by H. C. Oberholser in 

 which is discussed several subspecies of Canadian 

 occurrence. 



The Northwestern Belted Kingfisher, Sirepiocer\)le 

 alcyon caurina Grinnell (questioned by Taverner), 

 is regarded as a valid race. The American Barn 

 Owl is relegated to subspecific status with the 

 European form, under the name Tyto alba pratin- 

 cola (Bonaparte). Hellmayr's proposal to include 

 the American Brown Creeper as a form of Certhta 

 hrachydaclyla Brehm is rejected. The Alaska 

 Myrtle Warbler, Dendroica coronala hooveri Mc- 

 Gregor, IS accepted as a recognizable subspecies. 

 Brook's proposal of the Hoary Redpoll, Acanthis 

 hornemanni exilpes, as a subspecies of the Common 

 Redpoll, A. linaria instead of A. hornemanni, is 

 rejected. 



The Subspecies of Larus hyperboreus 

 Gunnerus by H. C. Oberholser (pp. 467-474). 

 This paper investigates the hitherto rejected Point 

 Barrow Gull, Larus barrovianus Ridgway, and de- 

 cides that it IS a recognizable race of the Glaucus 

 Gull, L. hyperboreus, differing particularly in being 

 smaller than the Atlantic form. He gives diagnosis, 

 measurements and distribution, extending the latter as 

 far east on the Arctic coast as Franklin Bay. 



In the department of Recent Literature, W. 

 S(tone) (pp. 486-489) reviews Dr. Dwight's Review 

 of the Juncos at considerable length. Further on 

 under Correspondence, Jos. Grinnell (pp. 505-507) 

 has more to say on the same subject and it may be 

 well here to mention that the paper is also reviewed 

 m the Condor, July, 1918 (pp. 142-143), by H. S. 

 Swarth. Further remarks occur on the same paper 

 elsewhere in these pages. 



Soper's Birds of Edmonton, OTTAWA NATURA- 

 LIST, February and March, 1918, is mentioned in 

 review (p. 489). 



The Possible Avian Distribution of Hog Colera, 

 Journ. Agr. Research, Vol. 13, 1918 (pp. 125-129), 

 is summarized (pp. 495-496) and the resulting con- 

 clusion cited that pigeons and other birds of similar 

 habits are probably never concerned in the spread of 

 the disease. 



In the department of General Notes, Cause of 

 "Fishy" Flavour of the Flesh of Wild Ducks", W. 

 L. McAtee (pp. 474-476). The decision is reached 

 that the "fishy " flavour should probably be ascribed 

 to the physiological condition of individuals rather 

 than to the use of fish as food and it is asserted that 

 many noted fish-eating species may be unexpectedly 

 palatable. 



