Book News and Reviews 



139 



and the data given include the number 

 of records, "median first seen," "earliest 

 record," "median last seen," and "latest 

 laggard." 



Additional lists are given of the rarer 

 species. These are arranged alphabeti- 

 cally, a method which brings Mocking- 

 birds next to Murre and Knot after 

 Hawk. A chronological order is to our 

 mind properly employed in the main list, 

 but where the names alone are given why 

 not follow the accepted standard of ar- 

 rangement? In a paper on 'Field Notes 

 from Cambridge, Ohio,' by Mrs. Robert 

 T. Scott, it is difficult to say what method 

 of arrangement has been adopted. It be- 

 gins with Song Sparrow and ends with 

 Bobolink and Stilt Sandpiper. Confusing 

 inconsistencies of this kind can be avoided 

 by a rigid adherence to the order of 

 arrangement which for thirty years has 

 been the standard in this country. 



Arthur R. Abel writes of Summer 

 Robin Roosts, James S. Compton of 

 'The Birds of the Douglas Lake Region;' 

 Cordelia J. Stanwood contributes studies 

 of the Hermit Thrush and Black-throated 

 Green Warbler; John P. Young describes 



'A Flight of Shore birds near Youngstown, 

 Ohio;' and W. F. Heninger calls atten- 

 tion to some forty-two cases in which the 

 'Ranges' given in the A. O. U. Check-Lists 

 do not fully show recorded information 

 concerning Ohio birds. 



In an article on 'Discouraging the 

 English Sparrow,' Thomas H. Whitney 

 gives the results of his efforts to rid his 

 home-grounds of these pests. Of 216 

 Sparrows destroyed, 137 were captured in 

 the nest-box trap, which he considers the 

 most effective means for capturing this 

 wary bird. This trap is described in tjie 

 Farmers' Bulletin No. 493 of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, 'The English Sparrow 

 as a Pest,' copies of which may be pro- 

 cured from the Superintendent of Docu- 

 ments, Government Printing Office, Wash- 

 ing, D. C. 



We are glad to see through a letter from 

 P. A. Taverner, that he has been studying 

 the birds of Bonaventure Island, oflf Perce 

 on the Guspe Peninsula. The reviewer 

 passed a few hours on this island in 1898 

 and recalls few places which offered better 

 opportunities for ornithological work. — 

 F. M. C. 



VIRGIxNIA RAIL APPROACHING NEST 

 Photographed by A. A. Allen at Ithaca, N. Y. 



