Book News and Reviews 



157 



called to the lack of consistency in the use 

 of trinomials which the editor permits. 

 The old method prevails in Mr. Kerr's 

 list, the modern in Mr. Honeywill's, and 

 the reader is left in doubt as to whether 

 "The Auk" is up-to-date or not. 



Revision of the new Check-List is 

 already in order, and we have "Notes 

 Extending the Ranges of Certain Birds on 

 the Pacific Slope," wherein Mr. J. H. 

 Bowles furnishes new information con- 

 cerning nearly forty species. Mr. J. C. 

 Phillips records "Ten Years of Observa- 

 tion on the Migration of Anatidae at 

 Wenham Lake, Mass.," and believes that 

 the diminution of wildfowl amounts to 

 nearly twenty-five per cent. Mr. C. H. 

 Kennedy supplies "Notes on the Fruit- 

 eating Habits of the Sage Thrasher in the 

 Yakima Valley," pointing out, especially, 

 the damage done to clusters of grapes by 

 birds that puncture the fruit in order to 

 sip the juice. 



A critical revision of "The Bahaman 

 Species of Geoihlypis" is from the pen of 

 Mr. W. E. Clyde Todd. The group is 

 boldly divided into three races of one 

 species, a rational synthesis that might 

 well be applied to other confused groups 

 which today are little more than un- 

 digested masses of names. 



The annual list of members of the 

 A. O. U. closes the number. — J. D., Jr. 



The Condor. — Of the eight principal 

 articles in the March number of 'The 

 Condor,' the opening one, by Florence 

 Merriam Bailey, entitled 'The Oasis of 

 the Llano,' has a special interest in show- 

 ing the marked effect of topography on 

 the distribution of bird life. The wind- 

 swept plains of western Texas afford com- 

 paratively little variety in bird or plant 

 life, but along the eastern edge of the 

 Staked Plains the Llano drops off sud- 

 denly, forming in some places a precipi- 

 tous wall 400 to 500 feet in height. Here 

 trees and shrubs find shelter from the 

 winds, and the variety of vegetation 

 attracts a number of birds, so that the 

 Llano wall actually becomes an oasis in 

 the otherwise arid Plains. 



A brief paper by Willard on 'The Blue- 

 throated Hummingbird,' illustrated by 

 four photographs, forms a welcome contri- 

 bution to the life history of this compara- 

 tively little-known species. The observa- 

 tions on which it is based were made, 

 during several years, in the Huachuca 

 Mountains, in Arizona. Under the title 

 'Odds and Ends,' Joseph Mailliard gives 

 notes on the Wood Duck, the two Egrets, 

 the Little Brown Crane, and the Western 

 Tanager in California. In speaking of the 

 Egret {Herodias egrella), he says: "In 

 view of the fact that this species was at 

 one time nearly extinct in this state, it is 

 encouraging to the advocates of bird pro- 

 tection to note that these Egrets are 

 increasing in numbers." 



Oilman's article on the 'Doves of the 

 Pima Reservation' contains full and inter- 

 esting notes on the four species which 

 occur in this section of southwestern 

 Arizona. Rockwell's 'Notes on the Nest- 

 ing of the Forster and Black Terns in 

 Colorado,' illustrated with 7 half-tones, 

 are the latest contribution to the impor- 

 tant series of papers on the birds of the 

 Barr Lake region, published in recent 

 volumes of 'The Condor.' The extensive 

 irrigation projects in eastern Colorado 

 have brought about marked changes in 

 the local avifauna, and in this region have 

 caused a decided increase in the abundance 

 of certain water birds. A striking illustra- 

 tion of this change is afforded in the case 

 of these two Terns, which 30 or 40 years ago 

 were rare, but are now common summer 

 residents. In Peck's 'Summer Birds of 

 Willow Creek Valley, Malheur county, 

 Oregon,' will be found brief notes on 74 

 species in a little-known section in the 

 eastern part of the state. An illustration 

 of the curious places in which birds may 

 sometimes be found is furnished by the 

 note that, "on July 8, 1910, a Wilson 

 Snipe was flushed from a sage bush!" 

 Jay's paper on the 'Nesting of the Cali- 

 fornia Cuckoo in Los Angeles count}-' 

 and Carriger and Ray's 'April Day List 

 of Calaveras Valley Birds' are chiefly of 

 local interest. The latter article includes a 

 nominal list of 50 species. — T. S. P. 



