Book News and Reviews 



359 



deduced from the habits of birds. The 

 climbing about of young Herons and the 

 swimming of passerine species suggest 

 "the primitive reptilian scramble," accord- 

 ing to our author, who also ventures some 

 other hypotheses, among them the prob- 

 able evolution of a new species of Myrtle 

 Warbler through "chinnishness." 



There is much to commend in the care 

 with which 'A Reconsideration of the 

 American Black Ducks,' etc., is handled 

 by J. C. Phillips, who finds the Florida 

 Duck {fidvigtila) and the Mottled race 

 (maculosa) indistinguishable, as are also 

 Abert's Duck (aberti) of Mexico and the 

 Hawaiian species (wn'/Z/Za^a). It is 

 illustrated with a half-tone plate. 



It is to be hoped that H. G. Wright's 

 'Morning Awakening and Even-Song' 

 will stimulate further observations along 

 similar lines, for his pioneer work merely 

 touches a large field. We wish he had 

 tabulated, for convenience, some of his 

 results; but congratulate him, the early 

 bird, and the worm, on being willing to 

 keep such unreasonable hours. 



'October Birds of the Headwaters of the 

 Gila River, New Mexico,' by Dr. W. H. 

 Bergtold, is a local list; and 'Notes on the 

 Birds .... of Western North Caro- 

 lina,' by S. C. Bruner and A. L. Field, is 

 another of the usual type. 



In 'The Hawaiian Linnet' {Carpodacus 

 mutans Grinnell), J. C. Phillips questions 

 the appropriateness of the name, and in 

 'The Introduction and Acclimatization of 

 the Yellow Canary on Midway Island,' 

 W. A. Bryan states that it has proved a 

 complete success. 



A review of the 'Early Records of the 

 Carolina Paroquet,' beginning with 1587, 

 by A. H. Wright, quotes many authors; 

 a bit of life history of Palmer's Thrasher 

 is told by E. F. Stafford; and O. Bangs 

 describes 'A New Subspecies of the 

 Ruffed Grouse' (thayeri) from Nova 

 Scotia. 



On page 380 are listed the additions to 

 the A. O. U. 'Check-List,' proposed since 

 the 1910 (not "iQoo") edition. The spe- 

 cies added are 4, subspecies 11, while 

 rejected claimants number 22. 'General 



Notes' contains, among other things, the 

 discovery by S. W. Brooks of an over- 

 looked specimen of the Labrador Duck in 

 a storage case of the Boston Society of 

 Natural History. There are also correc- 

 tions of a number of faulty records of 

 several other species, which have not 

 even the excuse of being opera-glass obser- 

 vations. The reviews are numerous, and 

 the excellent feature of gathering together 

 titles from ornithological and other jour- 

 nals is continued in this number. Every- 

 body would do well to read the editor's 

 remarks on nomenclature, on p. 431. 



A number of half-tones enrich the 

 October 'Auk,' which now completes the 

 twenty-ninth consecutive year of publica- 

 tion, as flourishing as ever under the 

 guidance of its new editor. The first two 

 articles emphasize some of the unusual 

 dangers that menace migrating water- 

 fowl. A. R. Cahn writes on 'The Freezing 

 of Cayuga Lake in its Relation to Bird 

 Life,' and J. H. Fleming on 'The Niagara 

 Swan Trap.' Nearly a dozen species of 

 Ducks, and Grebes and numbers of each 

 were victims, when the lake froze over 

 completely, in February, 191 2, and Mr. 

 Cahn shows some good half-tones illus- 

 trating the conditions. The "Swan Trap" 

 is nothing more nor less than Niagara 

 Falls itself, where the huge birds settle 

 in the quiet river above, and are swept 

 into the rapids and over the falls in con- 

 siderable numbers; and this happens 

 every year. 



'Methods of Estimating the Contents 

 of Bird Stomachs,' by W. L. McAtee, is a 

 careful weighing of the pros and cons of 

 several methods that have been employed. 

 R. C. Harlow contributes a local list of 

 birds from Center County, Pa; and 

 there is one of the birds of Montgomery 

 County, Va. by E. A. Smyth, Jr., which 

 shows evidence of unusual care in its prep- 

 aration. Photographs of a freshly killed 

 Black-capped Petrel lend special interest 

 to the latter list. R. M. Strong's article 

 on the Red-breasted Merganser is a record 

 of careful observation, illustrated by sev- 

 eral half-tones. 



Mr. F. H. Allen enters the controversial 



