Book News and Reviews 



97 



of colored figures, over 2,000 photographs 

 of birds have been reproduced, with a 

 corresponding wealth of descriptive mat- 

 ter. We should be grateful to Mr. Inger- 

 soll for making all this material so readily 

 available.-F. M. C. 



Ornithological Magazines 



The Auk. — On the opening page of the 

 January issue is a speaking portrait of 

 Daniel Giraud Elliot, which is followed by 

 a memorial address by Dr. Frank M. 

 Chapman who, all too briefly, outlines 

 the life and work of this great ornitholo- 

 gist. Few are privileged to attain such 

 honors as came to him, and his loss will 

 be keenl}' felt by his friends the world 

 over. Men of such caliber always advance, 

 and uplift the science to which they 

 devote their lives. 



As a fine example of a local list, Major 

 Allan Brooks' 'Birds of the Chilli wack 

 District, B. C.,' is to be commended. Col- 

 lections were made for eleven years, and 

 the results and conclusions regarding 257 

 species and races are compressed to occupy- 

 only a few pages, including a map. 

 Another good local list is one on 'The Birds 

 of Culebra Island, Porto Rico,' by Mr. A. 

 Wetmore. Mr. H. L. Stoddard records 

 'Notes on a few of the Rarer Birds of 

 Sauk and Dane Counties, Wisconsin.' 

 Mr. H. G. Wright deals at length with 

 'The Orange-crowned Warbler as a Fall 

 and Winter Visitant in the region of 

 Boston, Massachusetts.' 



A new race of the Meadowlark — 

 Sturnella neglecta confliienta — from Wash- 

 ington, Oregon and British Columbia, is 

 described by Mr. S. F. Rathbun, a new 

 Finch (Telespiza ultima) from Nihoa 

 Island, Hawaiian Islands, is described by 

 Mr. W. A. Bryan, and a new race of the 

 Broad-winged Hawk — Buteo platypleriis 

 iowensis — from Iowa, is described by 

 Mr. B. H. Bailey. In view of the well 

 known 'melanistic' plumages of many 

 species of Hawks, we wonder if the 

 describer has sufficiently weighed this 

 possibility. 



The Thirty-fourth Meeting of the 



A.O.U., in Philadelphia, is reported by 

 the Secretary Mr. J. H. Sage. The A.O.U. 

 has increased in spite of the long list of 

 members deceased during the year. 



Before closing this review we would 

 take exception to the too frequent prac- 

 tice of publishing 'sight' records of races 

 that, according to geographical distribu- 

 tion, ought to be the ones seen. For 

 instance at page 91 we find two records of 

 the 'Acadian' Chickadee, a slightly differ- 

 ing form of the Hudsonian Chickadee, 

 and first described from Nova Scotia. 

 How do we know that these birds are not 

 of the race from Labrador, or the race 

 from Hudson Bay? This is not improba- 

 ble, for at page 86 is recorded the capture 

 of a Mountain Plover on Cape Cod, a 

 bird that should not be found east of the 

 Rockies. And what of the Evening Gros- 

 beaks recorded as Coccothraiistes vesper- 

 tina vespertiana? Might not the Rocky 

 Mountain race slip down this way? And 

 the same thing is true of other 'records' 

 we have seen of other birds. So very many 

 old records of species have proved to be 

 something else, when the moth-eaten 

 specimens on which they rested have 

 been examined, that we may well wonder 

 how future students are going to treat 

 sight records, which have nothing more 

 tangible than unsupported opinions to 

 back them. — J. D. 



Book News 



'Some Bird Friends,' by Henry F. Pullen, 

 is an "intimate introduction" to some 

 of the commoner birds of British Columbia. 

 It is attractively illustrated with twenty 

 half-tones and the text shows a genuine 

 love of birds and enthusiasm for their 

 study. This booklet of 30 pages is pub- 

 lished by the Free Lance Publishing Com- 

 pany at Victoria, British Columbia. 



'Food Plants to Attract Birds and Pro- 

 tect Fruit,' Circular No. 49 of the Massa- 

 chusetts State Board of Agriculture, by 

 Edward Howe Forbush, is a publication 

 which may be consulted to advantage at 

 this seasonable time for spring planting. 



