234 



Bird - Lore 



N, Rhoads, on 'Constantine S. Rafinesque 

 as an Ornithologist,' which is accompanied 

 by a portrait of that eccentric naturalist; 

 Spencer Trotter writes on 'The Frontier 

 of the Carolinian Fauna in the Lower 

 Delaware River;' Richard C. Harlan on 

 'The Center Furnace Swamp;' Cornelius 

 Weygandt on 'The Summer of Fire and 

 Bird Adaptation;' while Herman Behr con- 

 tributes some valuable notes on the former 

 abundance of the Passenger Pigeon in Sulli- 

 van and Wyoming Counties, Pennsylvania, 

 and gives a striking pen picture of a 

 flight of Pigeons when "the sky was full 

 of them, a perfect maze of beating wings, 

 cut here and there by rifts of blue." 



'Down the Pocomoke,' by George 

 Spencer Morris, is a pleasing piece of 

 descriptive writing, and, under 'general 

 notes' John Dryden Kuser writes on 

 'Birds Observed near High Point, New 

 Jersey, July 19— September 10, 191 1,' 

 and Robert P. Sharpless supplies a bio- 

 graphical note concerning Wilson's en- 

 graver, Alexander Lawson. 



The report on the spring migration 

 is, as usual, compiled by Witmer Stone, 

 who calls for additional observers, and 

 the 'Abstract of the Proceedings' of the 

 meetings of the Club shows no falling off 

 in support among the members of this 

 virile organization. 



With an evident appreciation of his re- 

 sponsibilities, Robert Thomas Moore, who 

 succeeds Witmer Stone as editor of 'Cas- 

 sinia,' writes that with the call of Stone "to 

 the editorial chair of 'The Auk,' 'Cassinia' 

 suffered a great loss, which at the moment 

 seemed irreparable. For two decades he 

 has guided all the publications of the 

 D. V. O. C, first as chairman of its Publi- 

 cation Committee, which brought to 

 light the Proceedings from 1890 to 1900, 

 then as Editor of 'The Birds of Eastern 

 Pennsylvania and New Jersey,' and 

 finally in the same capacity for 'Cassinia' 

 during the ten years of its existence. That 

 each of these ventures has proved success- 

 ful, has been due largely to his tireless 

 energy, his steady enthusiasm, and wise 

 control at moments of stress. Whether 

 at the helm of 'Cassinia' or on the floor 



of the Club, it was he that suggested and 

 enlarged, it was he that pressed for com- 

 pletion." We may well believe, however, 

 that this tribute from the new pilot 

 indicates his fitness to take command. 

 — F. M. C. 



The Spell of the Rockies. By Enos 

 A. Mills. With illustrations from 

 photographs by the Author. Houghton, 

 Mifflin & Co., Boston and New York. 

 i2mo. xii+35s pages. 



The Catskills have Burroughs, the 

 Sierras, Muir, and, with each succeeding 

 tribute of his pen, Enos Mills is making 

 the Rockies more and more his own. 



With a more rugged environment than 

 is to be found in either the Atlantic or the 

 Pacific range, and with a mountaineering 

 temperament which even Muir might 

 envy, Mills' experiences — adventures they 

 may well be called — have strong human 

 interest, while his studies of the forests, 

 and certain of their inhabitants, show him 

 to be a close and enthusiastic student of 

 nature. — F. M. C. 



The Birds of Somerset Hills. By John 

 Dryden Kuser. Published by the au- 

 thor, 191 2. i6mo. 160 pages, 22 colored 

 plates. 



In this unusually attractive little vol- 

 ume the author records his observations 

 on the birds in the region about his home 

 at Bernardsville, New Jersey. He writes 

 with the care of a student and the enthu- 

 siasm of a genuine bird lover, and we 

 trust that this marks but the beginning 

 of his contributions to the literature of 

 ornithology. — F. M. C. 



Some Common Game, Aquatic, and 

 Rapacious Birds in Relation to 

 Man. By W. L. Mc.\tee and F. E. L. 

 Beal. Farmers' Bull., 497, U. S. Dept. 

 of Agriculture, 191 2. 



This paper adds to our available supply 

 of accurate information in regard to the 

 food habits of birds by treating of a num- 

 ber of species whose exact economic 

 status has not heretofore been deter- 

 mined. The Horned Grebe, for example, 

 "Sometimes accused of living entirely 

 upon fish, is here shown to feed largely 



