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Audubon Bird Chart No. 2. Prang 

 Educational Co., Boston and New York. 

 Price, $1.30. With Common Birds: 

 Second Series, by Ralph Hoffmann. 

 Mass. Audubon Society, Boston. i2mo. 

 Pages 20. 



It is a pleasure to know that the excel- 

 lent Audubon Bird Chart No. i, issued by 

 the Massachusetts Audubon Society, in 



1898 (see Bird- Lore, Vol. I, p 27), has 

 met with a success which has warranted 

 the Society in issuing this Chart No. 2. 

 Like Chart No. i, it contains life-size 

 figures of twenty-six birds reproduced in 

 color even more effectively than those of 

 the previously published chart. This chart, 

 as was the case with its predecessor, is ac- 

 companied by a pamphlet by Mr. Ralph 

 Hoffmann, containing well-written biogra- 

 phies of the twenty-six birds figured. We 

 especially commend these Bird Charts, 

 with their accompanying text-books, to 

 teachers, as the most satisfactory invest- 

 ments for the class-room, from an orni- 

 thologist's point of view, of which we 

 know.— F. M. C. 



Birds of the Yukon Region, with Notes 

 on Other Species. By Louis B. 

 Bishop, M.D. North American Fauna, 

 No. ig, pages 47-96, Washington, igoo. 



During the summer and early autumn of 



1899 Dr. Bishop accompanied Mr. Wilfred 

 H. Osgood, of the Biological Survey, on a 

 ^'biological reconnaissance of the Yukon 

 River region." The route lay over the 

 White Pass to the headwaters of the 

 Yukon and thence down this river to its 

 mouth. Dr. Bishop presents an introduc- 

 tion on the general features of the bird-life 

 of this little-known part of our country, 

 tables of distribution, and a well-annotated 

 list of 171 species and sub species. Three 

 of these — Cayiachites ca)iadc?isis osg'oodi, 

 Sayot'fiis saya ynko)U')isis. and Cojitofus 

 richardsoni satiiratus — he has previously 

 ■described as new (' Auk,' April, 1899). 



Dr. Bishop is to be congratulated on 

 the success attending an expedition which 

 was evidently not lacking in hardships, 

 and on the admirable manner in which he 

 has presented its results — F. M. C. 



(197; 



Food of the Bobolink, Blackbirds, and 

 Grackles. By F. E. L. Beal, B.S., 

 x\ssistant Biologist. Bull. No. 13, U 

 S. Dept. of Agriculture, Division of 

 Biological Survey. Washington, 1900. 

 Pages 77, I map, 3 cuts, 2 diagrams. 



In this Bulletin, Professor Beal con- 

 tinues his important studies of the food of 

 North American birds, taking, for inves- 

 tigation, a group of birds which are as 

 widely condemned by the average agricul- 

 turalist as are Hawks and Owls. 



While it does not appear from Professor 

 Beal's extended researches that these birds 

 are as deserving of protection as are the 

 Hawks and Owls, it is evident that their 

 destructive abilities are greatly over-esti- 

 mated. Indeed, of the nine species whose 

 food has been studied only one is con- 

 demned, and this, every bird-lover will 

 regret to learn, is our Bobolink, of which 

 it is said, " Facts force the belief that until 

 some practical method shall be devised to 

 prevent its ravages upon the rice crop 

 there can be no other conclusion than that 

 the good done by the Bobolink does not 

 in any appreciable measure counte-bal- 

 ance the harm. " 



Lack of space forbids an adequate notice 

 of Professor Beal's paper, which should be 

 in the hands of everyone interested in 

 learning the economic status of our birds. 

 — F. M. C, 



Information Concerning Game ; Sea- 

 sons, Shipments, and Sale. By T. S. 

 Palmer and H. W Olds. Circular 

 No. 31, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, 

 Division of Biological Survey. Wash- 

 ington, 1900. Pages 20. 



The publication of this pamphlet fur- 

 ther illustrates the wisdom of the drawers 

 of the Lacey Bill when they made the 

 Biological Survey responsible for its en- 

 forcement ; and it will not be the fault 

 of the Survey if the public remains in 

 ignorance of the provisions of this act. 



The contents of this circular are indi- 

 cated by its title, and its publication by 

 the government gives to it an authorita- 

 tiveness lacking in other compilations of 

 the game laws. — F. M. C. 



