Book News and Reviews 



29 



ley,' 'In a JNIission Patio,' etc., while 

 an appendix of 117 pages contains ' A De- 

 scriptive List of California Land Birds, 

 with Key.'— F. M. C 



The Avifauna of The Pribilof Islands. 

 By William Palmer. Extracted from 

 ' The Fur Seals and Fur Seal Islands 

 of the North Pacific Ocean,' Part iii, 

 PP- 355-431- Pis. 2, Washington, Gov- 

 ernment Printing Office, 1899. 



This is essentially a complete mono- 

 graph of the avifauna of the Pribilof 

 Islands, with a description of the topog- 

 raphy of the Islands, an account of their 

 ornithological history, studies of the geo- 

 graphical distribution and migration of 

 their birds, and detailed treatment of the 

 sixty-nine species which have been re- 

 corded from the group. 



Mr. Palmer is a careful, patient obser- 

 ver and thoughtful student ; while we 

 may not always agree with his theories 

 we are grateful for the facts which make 

 this paper an exceedingly important con- 

 tribution to the literature of ornithology. 

 — F. M. C. 



Book News 



One of the most interesting features 

 of the last congress of the American 

 Ornithologists' Union was the presenta- 

 tion of a number of letters from Audubon 

 to Baird, which were read by Mr. Witmer 

 Stone, through the courtesy of Miss Lucy 

 H. Baird. 



They were written in 1842 or 1843, 

 when Audubon, then some sixty years of 

 age, was preparing for his trip to the 

 upper Missouri to gather materials for 

 his work on North American quadru- 

 peds, and they exhibit in the most 

 pleasing manner, not only their writer's 

 enthusiasm for the task in which he was 

 then engaged, but also his affectionate 

 regard for Professor Baird, who, at the 

 time was a young man of twenty, on the 

 threshhold of his career. It is to be hoped 

 that these letters will be published. 



The New York Zoological Park has 

 issued an excellent guide to its collection 

 by Mr. W. T. Hornaday, director of the 

 park. It is beautifully illustrated and 



attractively printed, and, aside from its 

 value as a guide, has permanent worth 

 as a text-book of the mammals, birds 

 and reptiles of which it treats. We note 

 with regret the erroneous statement, on 

 page 44, that Brown Pelicans' feathers 

 are not used by milliners. 



The interesting and well edited 'Bulle- 

 tin of the Cooper Ornithological Club 

 of California ' begins its second volume 

 under the title of 'The Condor.' 



Some time since one of our leading 

 monthlies published a drawing of the 

 Murre rookery of the Farallone Islands 

 from a photograph by Mr. C. Barlow, 

 the well known California ornithologist. 

 As very often happens in bird-photog- 

 raphy, the birds had left the foreground 

 of the picture, and to remedy this defect 

 the artist has introduced birds in his draw- 

 ing which were not in the photograph. 



While the result may be considered an 

 artistic success, we fear it will not be en- 

 dorsed by ornithologists, the added birds 

 not being Murres, but King Penguins, a 

 flightless species which does not occur with- 

 in several thousand miles of the Farallones! 



The Jacksonville 'Times-Union,' learn- 

 ing from a notice published in De- 

 cember Bird-Lore that a party of hunters 

 was bound for Florida ' to shoot all kinds 

 of water birds,' vigorously comments on 

 their coming, under the caption, "Jail the 

 Filibusters," as follows: "We invite all 

 correspondents of this paper to keep a 

 careful watch for such filibusters and all 

 their kind. Moreover, we insist that the 

 intention itself is actionable ; in case no 

 capture is made in this state, information 

 js here furnished from reliable sources 

 warranting the Attorney-General in pro- 

 ceeding against these parties within their 

 places of hiding or business and bringing 



them before the Federal Courts 



Such wholesale massacre has become 

 serious to the farmers of the state, as well 

 as to those who take a less materialistic 

 interest in the victims. The Governor has 

 issued his instructions, and there can be no 

 doubt as to the temper which animates his 

 language." 



