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Revision of the Avian Genus Passe- 

 rella with special reference to 

 the Distribution and Migration of 

 the Races in California. By H. S. 

 Swarth, University of California. Pub. 

 in Zool., Vol. 21, No. 4, pp. 75-224; 

 plls. 4-7; figs. 30; Sept. 11, 1920. 



Of the sixteen races of Fox Sparrow 

 treated in this monograph, only one, our 

 common Passer ella iliaca iliaca, is found 

 east of the Rocky Mountains, while the 

 remainder are distributed, during the nest- 

 ing season, from southern California north 

 to Alaska. During the winter all the 

 western forms occur regularly, and the 

 eastern form casually, in California. To 

 the eastern field student, a Fox Sparrow is 

 simply a Fox Sparrow and one of the easiest 

 members of its family to identify. But the 

 observer on the Pacific coast may focus 

 his glass on any one of the fifteen, or pos- 

 sibly sixteen, races and, as Mr. Swarth 

 tells us that even in the study he cannot 

 definitely name all the specimens of Fox 

 Sparrows he has examined in the prepara- 

 tion of this paper, it is clear that many field 

 identifications must be followed by an in- 

 terrogation mark. 



However, as far as descriptions of plum- 

 age, migration routes, dates of occurrence, 

 etc., go, Mr. Swarth has here given the 

 student all the assistance he may expect 

 to receive of this kind. Of much greater 

 importance are the results of his studies as 

 they reveal suggestive facts in relations 

 and in distribution, extent of migration, 

 and winter as well as summer areas of 

 occupation. In these, and in other respects, 

 this paper contains much of value to the 

 faunalist and ecologist, so much, indeed, 

 that we regret the author has not pre- 

 sented a summary of his discoveries, con- 

 clusions, and theories, that those who run 

 in other fields of science may read. 



The line cuts, maps, and photographs 

 are instructive, but the colored plate by 

 Brooks, showing four races of Fox Spar- 

 rows would in our opinion have been more 

 effective (if less pleasing) if the birds had 



been treated as specimens with no attempt 

 to make a picture. When we compare 

 birds' skins we do not place them at dif- 

 ferent angles and in different directions 

 against a parti-colored background. — 

 F. M. C. 



The Food of West Virginia Birds. By 

 Earl A. Brooks. Published by the 

 State Commission of Agriculture, 

 Charleston, W. Va. 8vo. 74 pages; 

 photographs and colored plates. 



This is a readable and practical little 

 manual of economic ornithology in which 

 the author has succeeded in placing a large 

 amount of information in a comparatively 

 limited space. Although prepared for use 

 in West Virginia, it will answer admirably 

 for a general textbook. — F. M. C. 



Guide to the Summer Birds of the 

 Bear Mountain and Harriman Park 

 Sections of the Palisades Interstate 

 Park. By P. M. Silloway. 8vo. 105 

 pages; 1 map; 32 half-tones from photo- 

 graphs. New York State College of 

 Forestry, Syracuse, N. Y., 1920. 



This paper is based on the field-work of 

 the author from May 27 to August 8, 1918, 

 and June 6 to July 31, 1919. During this 

 time he observed 88 species. Adding to 

 this number the birds reported by Mearns* 

 as breeding in the same region, but not 

 found by Silloway, and the summer birds 

 of this district number considerably over 

 one hundred species. Prepared as a guide 

 for the use of visitors to the Park, the 

 author tells how the Park may be reached, 

 describes its general characteristics, gives 

 the student some excellent advice on how 

 to study birds in the field, tells him where 

 certain birds may be found, and adds three 

 well-annotated lists of the birds observed 

 at as many localities. 



Situated at the northern limit of the 

 Carolinian fauna there is, as might be ex- 

 pected, a representation of Alleghanian 

 forms. Thus the Hooded, Blue-winged, 



*A List of the Birds of the Hudson Highlands. 

 Bulletin Essex Inst., in Vols. X-XIII, 1878-81. 



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