Book News and Reviews 



279 



next Common Summer Residents;" Chap- 

 ter VII deals briefly with 'Nests;' Chap- 

 ter VIII, with 'Transients;' Chapter IX, 

 with 'Migration Data;' Chapter X, with 

 'Winter Residents;' Chapter XI, with 

 'Winter Feeding;' Chapter XII, with 

 'Books, Pubhcations, Societies,' etc.; 

 Chapter XIII with 'Protection, Preserva- 

 tion, and Propagation;' while Appendix 

 A contains a 'Key' to apparently the com- 

 moner land- and water-birds of the Middle 

 States and Appendix B is a glossary. 

 There is no index. 



Mr. Kuser has made good use of his 

 eighty-five pages, and his cordial invita- 

 tion to bird-study will, we hope, be ac- 

 cepted by the many persons who desire 

 just such an introduction to the subject 

 as he here presents. 



Nine full-page colored plates by Fuertes 

 add greatly to the beauty, value, and 

 interest of the book. Our interest is es- 

 pecially aroused by the Frontispiece, of 

 a House Wren which appears to have 

 placed its nest in a gourd having a diam- 

 eter no greater than the length of the 

 bird!— F. M. C. 



Birds of the Campus [of the Western 

 Illinois State Normal School, Macomb, 

 111.]. By Chas. W. Finley, S.M. Nor- 

 mal School Quarterly, No. 30, June, 1917. 

 28 pages; 12 half-tone plates. 



This is an exceptionally interesting 

 addition to the growing number of publi- 

 cations dealing intensively with the bird- 

 life of a restricted area. Its value lies 

 not alone in the original information which 

 it contains, but in its usefulness as a guide 

 to the students who, in the course of time, 

 will live in the locality of which it treats. 

 Furthermore, the method in which the 

 author presents his data seems well 

 designed to arouse interest in his subject 

 and to stimulate further investigation. 



An introductory paragraph sums up the 

 results of the observations recorded. They 

 were made between February 21 and 

 July 22, 1916, on a tract of about 63 acres. 

 During this period no species were ob- 

 served, of which 24 were found nesting. 

 "In all 208 nests were built in which were 



deposited 467 eggs, 260 of which hatched. 

 Sixty-three of the young birds were de- 

 stroyed before they were old enough to 

 leave the nest, which leaves 195 successfully 

 reaching that age." 



These facts are presented in detail in 

 the body of the report, together with full 

 data on the migration, and a number of 

 photographs showing nesting-sites, nests, 

 and birds. — F. M. C. 



Ornithological Magazines 



The Auk. — The July issue chronicles 

 the lifework of the late Prof. F. E. L. 

 Beal in an opening article written by Mr. 

 W. L. McAtee who has prepared a fitting 

 tribute to one of the older generation of 

 ornithologists. Professor Beal's contribu- 

 tions were mainlj' to economic ornithology, 

 and he rounded out a quarter century in 

 the U. S. Biological Survey. 



Messrs. P. B. Philipp and B. S. Bowdish 

 record their observations on the nesting of 

 'Some Summer Birds of Northern New 

 Brunswick,' some of the rarer Warblers 

 and the Philadelphia Vireo being among 

 them, and Mr. V. Burtch records the 

 'Nesting of the Florida Gallinule' at 

 Branchport, N. Y. Both articles are illus- 

 trated with half-tones, and the descrip- 

 tion of 'An Improvised Observation Tent' 

 by Dr. R. M. Strong is also illustrated. A 

 short paper 'Field Notes on the Seriema 

 {Chunga burmasteri)' by Mr. H. S. Boyle 

 throws light on this curious South Ameri- 

 can bird. 



Many readers will be interested in 'Miss 

 Lawson's Recollections of Ornithologists' 

 by Mr. F. L. Burns. She tells us a little of 

 Wilson, Ord, Bartram, Bonaparte, and 

 others. 



A valuable contribution is by Mr. F. S. 

 Hersey on 'The Status of the Black- 

 throated Loon (Gavia arctica) as a North 

 American Bird.' In spite of this species 

 being recorded in no less than sixteen 

 states of the United States and in many 

 parts of Canada, Mr. Hersey finds there 

 are just three correctly identified speci- 

 mens, all from Alaska. If so many mis- 

 taken identifications can occur in a well- 



