38 



Bird - Lore 



and the plate?, the majority copied from 

 Audubon and Wilson, depicting 102 

 species, should aid in identification. The 

 comprehensive bibliography is also an 

 important feature. 



Two short introductory chapters treat 

 of 'The Destruction and Protection of our 

 Birds,' and "Distribution and ISIigra- 

 tion. ' In the latter, the species are divided 

 into Residents, Summer Residents, Winter 

 Visitants, Transient Visitants and Irregu- 

 lar or Accidental Visitants. The last mis- 

 cellaneous assemblage is subdivided into 

 five groups. While the difficulty of satis- 

 factorily arranging these irregular visi- 

 tants is acknowledged, we cannot help 

 thinking that the line between Winter 

 Visitants and Irregular \'isitants from the 

 north in Winter has not been drawn at 

 the best point. The Redpoll, Lapland 

 Longspur and Snow Bunting seem better 

 placed with the Pine Grosbeak and White- 

 winged Crossbill than with such unfailingly 

 regular winter residents as the Tree Spar- 

 row and the Junco. And we should scarcely 

 e.xpect to find the Pileated Woodpecker 

 and Cerulean Warbler among "Irregular 

 Visitants from the South in Summer. " 



The annotations are, in the main, ade- 

 quate and satisfactory; but, in a few cases, 

 the abundance is stated in a general way, 

 that by no means applies to the state as 

 a whole. For instance, among the Hawks, 

 the Red-tail is given as a "common resi- 

 dent," though there are considerable 

 areas from which it is almost or wholly 

 absent in the breeding -season. Again, 

 the Broad-winged Hawk is said to be a less 

 common breeder than the Red-shouldered, 

 while, as a matter of fact, it occupies 

 certain sections to the exclusion of its 

 congener, the habitats of the two being 

 complementary. By failure to secure all 

 available records, many of the scarcer 

 transients are made to appear rarer than 

 they actually are. Thus, but one spring 

 record is given for Lincoln's Sparrow, 

 while, some years ago, the writer observed 

 as many as seven or eight during one 

 spring migration. 



There is a pleasing freedom from typo- 

 graphical errors, and the only slips ob- 



served in the scientific names are the 

 inadvertent use of Tachybaptus for the 

 Pied-billed Grebe; of colchicus, instead of 

 torqualus, as the specific name of the Ring- 

 necked Pheasant, and of leucobronchialis for 

 Vermivora lawrencei. The proper names 

 of Krom and Zerega are misspelled through- 

 out the work. 



In regard to the faunal relationships of 

 New Jersey, we find that the greater part 

 of the state belongs to the Carolinian zone, 

 the hilly northern portion being mainly 

 Alleghanian. There is, at most, only a 

 feeble indication of a Canadian element 

 in the presence of a few Brown Creepers, 

 Solitary Vireos and Canadian and Black- 

 throated Blue Warblers as breeders in the 

 most elevated portions, but none of these 

 are typically Canadian species. 



The total number of species and sub- 

 species accredited to the state, including 

 accidental visitants, e.xtinct species, and a 

 few of somewhat doubtful occurrence, is 

 356. Of these, 137 are breeders. Of 

 species extinct within the state, there are 

 five given in the introduction, and to these 

 should be added the Labrador Duck. A 

 number of others that formerly nested 

 in numbers along the coast might properly 

 have been placed in this category, since 

 they now occur only as the rarest strag- 

 glers. Among these are the Avocet, Stilt, 

 Wilson's Plover, Oystercatcher, Gull- 

 billed Tern, Least Tern and Black Skim- 

 mer. Indeed of the once varied and 

 abundant summer bird-life of the New 

 Jersey beaches and marshes, the Clapper 

 Rails, a few Common Terns, and two 

 colonies of Laughing Gulls, are about all 

 that remain. 



.■\mong the few song birds, once more 

 or less abundant but now practically un- 

 known in the state, the Dickcissel, Mock- 

 ingbird and Summer Tanager are the best, 

 if not the only examples. — W. DeW. M. 



Report of the Chief of the Bureau 

 OF Biological Survey for 1909. By 

 C. Hart Merriam. From the Annual 

 Reports of the Department of Agricul- 

 ture: Washington, 1909, pp. 1-24. 



The increase in scope and importance 

 of the work of the Bureau of Biological 



