iloofe jBteto0 anij 3^ebieto0 



The Ornithological Magazines 



The Auk. — The July number of 'The 

 Auk' is a curious mixture of popular and 

 scientific ornithology, with some nomen- 

 clature besides, which is neither one nor 

 the other. Readable ' Observations on 

 the Golden Eagle in Montana,' by E. S. 

 Cameron, are accompanied by fine half- 

 tone plates of the country and of the birds. 

 Some of the prevailing ideas and stories 

 regarding the habits and accomplishments 

 of this splendid species are overset by 

 Mr. Cameron. 



One of the many dangers to which 

 migrating birds are exposed is related by 

 J. H. Fleming in an article on 'The 

 Destruction of Whistling Swans {Olor 

 columhianus) at Niagara Falls,' where, 

 last March, fully a hundred of these great 

 white creatures were swept over the falls 

 and killed or captured afterwards. On 

 page 317, R. Deane records a disaster to 

 Chimney Swifts, several hundred being 

 overcome by coal-gas in a chimney they 

 had unwisely attempted to descend ; and 

 a third tragedy is noted by J. H. Bowles, 

 on page 312, who found Mallard Ducks 

 dead, apparently from lead-poisoning, due, 

 evidently, to bird-shot that they had 

 swallowed in quantity by mistake for 

 gravel. 



R. C. Harlow has 'Recent Notes on the 

 Birds of Eastern Pennsylvania,' and C. J. 

 Pennock contributes 'Birds of Delaware — • 

 Additional Notes.' 'Lams kumlieni, and 

 Other Northern Gulls in the Neighbor- 

 hood of Boston,' is the title of a paper by 

 F. H. Allen. 



J. H. Riley describes a new race of the 

 Broad-winged Hawk from Antigua, nam- 

 ing it insulicola, and E. J. Court separates 

 the Great Salt Lake Blue Heron under 

 the name treganzai. As each of these 

 new forms is based, primarily, on a single 

 breeding specimen, the need for new 

 names may well be doubted. Without 

 reflecting, in any way, on the good inten- 

 tions of these describers, it might be re- 



marked that the modern tendency is to 

 name a difference first and explain it 

 afterwards. 



Fifty-seven pages are devoted to the 

 Fourteenth Supplement to the A. O. U. 

 'Check-List,' now a thing of rags and 

 tatters, ready for the nomenclatural junk- 

 heap. This supplement is a ghastly four- 

 years' record of changes and errors. The 

 new additions are only thirty-four, ten of 

 them being full species, of which six are 

 stragglers to Greenland. The law of 

 priority is cited as the chief scape-goat for 

 the havoc wrought, but there is something 

 radically wrong with any laws or rules of 

 nomenclature which permit of such con- 

 stant overturning of names as has been 

 seen in the last decade. To the game of 

 names no penalties are attached, and the 

 rules are so complicated that few people 

 can tell if one plays fair or not; so that, 

 unless this amusement is taken bodily 

 out of the hands of experts, no permanent 

 stability is to be expected. Side-lights on 

 the game are furnished by Dr. J. A. Allen 

 in 'The Case of Strix vs. .\luco,' and 

 'Columbina vs. Chaemepelia ; " but space 

 forbids comment on the briefs presented, 

 except to note that they set forth a de- 

 plorable amount of error and opinion. 

 If names could be minted like coins, or, 

 at least, all run through the same machine, 

 we should soon have a stable nomencla- 

 ture. The present exhibit is enough to 

 disgust everybody who believes there is 

 something beyond mere names in scien- 

 tific progress. — J. D., Jr. 



The Condor. — Since the last review 

 of 'The Condor,' several numbers have 

 appeared, of which those for March and 

 Mav still await notice. The opening 

 article in the March number, forming the 

 third part of Finley's ' Life History of the 

 California Condor,' treats of the home- 

 life of the bird, and is illustrated with one 

 plate and five te.xt figures. Adam's ' Notes 

 on the Rhea, or South American Ostrich,' 

 illustrated with reproductions of three 



(218) 



