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Brewster's Warbler {Helminthophila 

 lewcobronchialis) a Hybrid Between 

 THE Golden - Winged Warbler 

 {Helminthophila chrysoptera) and the 

 Blue-Winged Warbler {Helmintho- 

 phila pinus). By Walter Faxon, mem. 

 Mus. Comp. Zool. XL, No. 6, August, 

 1913, pp. 311-316. 



In Bird-Lore for May-June, 19 11 (p. 

 155), Mr. J. T. Nichols (whose initials, 

 through an oversight, were omitted from 

 his review) summarized the contents of a 

 paper by Walter Faxon on Brewster's 

 Warbler, which included Dr. Faxon's 

 personal experience with these birds in a 

 small swamp, at Lexington, Mass. The 

 present paper contains the results of 

 additional and most fruitful studies of 

 these birds and their near allies in the 

 same locality, and is so filled with signifi- 

 cant facts and relevant comments on 

 them that one feels tempted to quote 

 it entire. 



Briefly, Dr. Faxon appears to have 

 solved the puzzle which since 1876, when 

 William Brewster described "Hclmiiilho- 

 phaga leucobronchialis," has held the 

 attention of ornithologists. Aptly enough, 

 the answer which he now gives us con- 

 firms the theory advanced by Brewster 

 only four years after he had named the 

 bird, namely that Brewster's Warbler is 

 a hybrid between the Golden-winged and 

 Blue-winged Warblers. 



Theory, however, is one thing and 

 fact quite another; and Dr. Faxon sup- 

 plies facts which apparently fully 

 justify his "Satisfaction of demonstra- 

 ting the true nature of Brewster's Warbler, 

 removing the question forever from the 

 realm of conjecture." 



In a word, he found a typical male 

 Golden-winged Warbler mated with a 

 typical female Blue-winged Warbler, and 

 kept their young (number not stated) 

 under observation from June 15, about 

 two days after they had left the nest, 

 until they "all grew up to be Brewster's 

 Warblers." 



(3 



The same season a male Brewster's 

 Warbler was found mated to a female 

 Golden-wing and of their young one 

 "grew up to be a typical Brewster's 

 Warbler, while the other, its own brother, 

 became a typical Golden-wing." These 

 two birds and one from the brood first 

 mentioned were banded, and a beginning 

 was thus made for the study of succeeding 

 generations. 



We cannot help wondering how many 

 years ago we might have had these data 

 if we had earlier substituted the glass for 

 the gun and collected facts instead of 

 feathers.— F. M. C. 



The Birds of Virginia. By Harold H. 

 Bailey. With 14 full-page colored plates, 

 one map, and 108 half-tones taken from 

 nature. Treating 185 species and sub- 

 species; all the birds that breed within 

 the state. J. P. Bell Co., Inc., Lynch- 

 burg. Va. 8vo. xxiii+362 pages. 



Very appropriately, this handsome 

 volume is dedicated to the author's 

 father, H, B. Bailey, a Founder of the 

 American Ornithologists' Union, whose 

 son, either through inheritance or train- 

 ing, and probably as a result of both, has 

 worthily followed in his father's footsteps. 

 Only the species believed to breed in 

 the state are treated, but the four faunas 

 (Austroriparian, Carolinian, AUeghanian, 

 and Canadian) represented in Virginia 

 bring a great variety of breeding birds, 

 species as faunally unrelated as Swain- 

 son's Warbler and the Red Crossbill 

 being here included. 



In the page or more devoted, as a rule, 

 to each species, we have its general range, 

 as given in the A. O. U. 'Check-List,' 

 with such modifications as the author's 

 personal knowledge suggests, the area 

 it occupies in Virginia, the times of arrival 

 and departure of the migratory species, 

 location and character of the nest and 

 eggs, nesting dates, and some description 

 of haunt and habit. The book thus con- 

 tains much original matter, and may be 

 :2) 



