Book News and Reviews 



lOI 



brief discussion of ' Sexual Selection, as 

 Affecting White Patterns,' and ' Direc- 

 tive Markings Outside the Order Passeri- 

 formes.' While he cannot be said to have 

 presented a satisfactory solution of the 

 difiticult problem which he has attacked, 

 he has made a very acceptable contri- 

 bution toward this end, one which we 

 trust will stimulate observation in the 

 field, where alone will be found the data 

 on which the final answer is based. — 

 Frank M. Chapman. 



The Vertebrates of the Cayuga Lake 

 Basin, N. Y. By Hugh D. Reed and 

 Albert H. Wright. [Cornell Univer- 

 sity.] Proc. Am. Philos. Soc, xlviii, 

 No. 193, 1909, pp. 371-458, 4 maps; 

 Birds, pp. 386-390; 409-453- 



This valuable paper "is based mainly 

 upon the records made by members" of 

 the Department of Neurology and Verte- 

 brate Zoology of Cornell University, since 

 the opening of the University, in 1868. 

 The personal observations of the authors 

 have extended over twelve of these, some 

 forty years. It goes without saying, there- 

 fore, that the writers of this brochure are 

 thoroughly equipped, both by experience 

 and by what may be termed inheritance, 

 to handle their subject with authority. 

 Their paper, therefore, forms an admirable 

 guide to the faunal affinities and status of 

 the species of vertebrates in the region 

 which they cover. 



Of birds, 257 species are recorded, and 

 under each are given brief but pertinent 

 data on its manner and times of occur- 

 rence, and nesting dates (if a breeding 

 bird).— F. M. C. 



An A.nnot.\ted List of the Birds of 

 Costa Rica, Including Cocos Island. 

 By M. A. Carriker, Jr. Annals of the 

 Carnegie Museum, Vol. vi, Nos. 2-4, 

 1910, pp. 314-915, one map. 



It is not our purpose to write a critical 

 review of ^Ir. Carriker's valuable contri- 

 bution to our knowledge of tropical 

 American bird-life, but we should like the 

 readers of Bird-Lore to know of the appear- 

 ance of so adequate a work on the birds 

 of this part of our continent. The amazing 



richness of Costa Rica's bird-life is 

 brought home to us when we observe that 

 from this small republic, not quite so 

 large as our state of West Virginia, there 

 have been recorded no less than 753 

 species and sub-species, or about three- 

 fourths as many as are known from all 

 America north of Mexico! 



Mr. Carriker has some introductory mat- 

 ter on the geography, physiography, life- 

 zones, etc., and his manner of treatment 

 of the species included makes his book 

 useful to both the systemati-st and the 

 zoogeographer, but to the average reader 

 his book will be of interest chiefly because 

 of his excellent notes on the habits of 

 many birds of which we know but little 

 in life. He is to be congratulated on the 

 completion of a task to which, both in 

 the field and study, he has evidently 

 given unsparingly of his time and effort. 

 — F. M. C. 



The Ornithological Magazines 



The Auk. — The January number opens 

 with a 'Description of a New Oriole (/c- 

 teris fuertesi), from Mexico,' by Mr. F. M. 

 Chapman; and a fine colored plate of the 

 species, from the brush of Mr. L. A. 

 Fuertes, makes the issue unusually 

 attractive. A new species in an old land 

 is a rare find nowadays; but there are 

 new discoveries to be made right under our 

 noses, for it turns out that the much- 

 observed Bittern wears and displays con- 

 spicuous white plumes during the breeding 

 season. This Mr. Wm. Brewster writes 

 about under title 'Concerning the Nuptial 

 Plumes Worn by Certain Bitterns, etc' 

 The credit of first recording the plumes 

 seems to be due to Miss Agnes M. Learned 

 (Bird-Lore, May-June 1908, pp. 106- 

 108). 



Several pages are devoted to an enter- 

 taining account of the Wild Pigeon, — 

 a translation from an old Swedish journal 

 of 1759 of an article by Peter Kalm, the 

 traveler. His name, however, has not 

 been translated, and remains "Pehr." As 

 a sad commentary on Kalm's observa- 

 tions, ISIr. C. F. Hodge has a few words to 



