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Bird - Lore 



Three valuable contributions to the 

 life-histories of certain birds are furnished 

 — one by Miss A. R. Sherman on 'The 

 Nest Life of the Sparrow Hawk,' one by 

 E. S. Cameron in 'Notes on Swainson's 

 Hawk in Montana,' and one by W. M. 

 Tyler on 'A Successful Pair of Robins.' 

 Such observations are of the greatest 

 value, and indicate an interest in orni- 

 thology that augurs well for its future as 

 an out-of-door science. The indoor side is 

 touched upon by H. L. Clarke, who adds 

 to his previous list of papers 'Anatomical 

 Notes on Todus. Oxyruncus and Spindalis. 

 J. L. Peters illustrates his 'List of Birds 

 of Quintana Roo, Mexico,' etc., by a map, 

 and describes several new geographical 

 races. H. S. Swarth discusses 'The Status 

 of Lloyd's Bush-Tit as a Bird of Arizona,' 

 and states that all the supposed occur- 

 rences are merely records of the young of 

 the Lead-colored Bush-Tit. There is evi- 

 dently still something to be learned 

 regarding the plumages of North American 

 birds. Many of us will be interested in 

 'Some North American Birds in Panama,' 

 by L. L. Jewel. 



We should be grateful to our painstak- 

 ing editor for his activity in reviewing, 

 not only the newest books, but the bird 

 articles of many journals. 'The Auk' be- 

 comes thereby more cosmopolitan than it 

 has ever been, and its value as a medium 

 of reference is greatly enhanced. We are 

 glad to see that Mr. Ridgway's 'Color 

 Standards and Color Nomenclature' is at 

 last published, but we fervently hope it 

 may not lead to finer discrimination of 

 color races. — J. D., Jr. 



The Condor. — The May number of 

 'The Condor' contains an unusual number 

 of general articles. Two of them, by 

 Aretas A. Saunders, describing the nest- 

 ing of the Marsh Hawk and the Short- 

 eared Owl, are based on observations made 

 near Chouteau, Mont., in the summer of 

 191 2. The period of incubation of the 

 Marsh Hawk was found to be 31 days, and 

 in 33 or 34 days more the young left the 

 nest. In a brief article on 'The Wild 

 Turkeys of Colorado,' Prof. W. W. Cooke 



gives the salient points in the local history 

 of the birds, and concludes that the east- 

 ern Wild Turkey never occurred in the 

 state and that Merriam's Turkey is the 

 only one entitled to a place in the Colorado 

 list. In an interesting account of 'The 

 Rocky Mountain Pine Grosbeak in Utah,' 

 E. and A. O. Treganza give the results of 

 their observations in the Wasatch Moun- 

 tains, in 1912. On July 3, a nest containing 

 3 eggs was found on American Fork Creek, 

 near the Iowa Copper Mine, at an altitude 

 of 7,000 to 8,500 feet. It is interesting to 

 note that these observations on the Rocky 

 Mountain bird correspond closely with 

 those on the California Pine Grosbeak, the 

 eggs of which were discovered by M. S. 

 Ray, June 19, 191 1, near Pyramid Peak, 

 Calif., at an altitude of 8,000 feet (Condor, 

 XIV, p. 181, and mentioned in Bird-Lore, 

 XIV, p. 360). Altogether, nine nests of the 

 Rocky Mountain Grosbeak were examined 

 but only one of them contained four 

 young, the usual number of eggs or young 

 being three. 



Four short papers on birds of Colorado, 

 California, and Kansas contain records of 

 local interest. Warren contributes notes 

 on 14 species found in Mesa County, Colo.; 

 Ray adds 'Some Further Notes from the 

 Tahoe Region;' Lamb and Howell, 'Notes 

 from Buena Vista Lake and Fort Tejon' — 

 an account of the breeding birds found at 

 the Lake in June, 191 2, including a colony 

 of 600 Farallon Cormorants and White 

 Pelicans; and Wetmore describes briefly 

 the effect of the severe winter of 1911-12 

 on the Woodpecker, Carolina Wren, and 

 Cardinal, in the vicinity of Lawrence, 

 Kansas. 



Taylor gives a timely 'Synopsis of the 

 Recent Campaign for the Conservation of 

 Wild Life in California,' in which he 

 mentions thirteen important amendments 

 to the game laws, which were secured at 

 the recent session of the legislature. This 

 article was prepared before all the bills 

 had been approved, and it should be noted 

 that one or two of these amendments, in- 

 cluding the one providing absolute pro- 

 tection of the Band-tailed Pigeon, failed 

 through the veto of the governor. — T. S. P. 



