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Bird -Lore 



'The Fossil Remains of a species of Hes- 

 perornis found in Montana,' Dr. R. W. 

 Shufeldt proposes the specific name 

 montana for a bird of which only the 23rd 

 vertebra has been discovered. Will the 

 23 prove a hoodoo, or will the half-tone 

 turn the scale? 



Our editor has a timely word of warn- 

 ing regarding genera splitting; for it is not 

 the number of genera that a real zoologist 

 objects to, but the absurdity of placing 

 every species in a separate genus. This is 

 truly "degrading genera until they are 

 perilously near to species." — J. D. 



The Condor. — The July number of 

 'The Condor' contains a brief account of 

 the Pacific coast meeting of the American 

 Ornithologists' Union at the Panama 

 Pacific Exposition, in San Francisco, May 

 17-20, with a list of the papers presented 

 and two pages of illustrations, showing 

 eight "snap shots of some of the partici- 

 pants." 



Four general articles in this number are 

 devoted to notes on the birds of British 

 Columbia, Colorado, Arizona, and South- 

 ern California. Anderson's 'Nesting of 

 the Bohemian Waxwing in Northern Brit- 

 ish Columbia' describes the finding of four 

 nests on islands in Atlin Lake, on July 8, 

 1 914. These nests were built in spruce 

 trees at heights varying from fifteen to 

 twenty-five feet from the ground; one 

 contained two, another four, and each of 

 the others five eggs. 



In 'Notes on Some Birds of Spring 

 Canyon, Colorado,' W. L. Burnett gives 

 a list of fifty-five species which have been 

 found on the auto stage road from Fort 

 Collins to Estes Park. The notes are 

 chiefly brief statements of abundance and 

 dates of arrival, and some of the com- 

 ments containing less than half a dozen 

 words are entirely too condensed. 



Oilman's 'Woodpeckers of the Arizona 

 Lowlands,' illustrated by ten half-tone 

 figures, is an interesting description of 

 the habits of the species found along the 

 Gila River between Blackwater and Casa 

 Blanca. It is rather surprising to find in 

 this arid region no less than eight kinds of 



Woodpeckers. These species are: The 

 Cactus Woodpecker {Dryobates s. cac- 

 tophilus), the Sierra Sapsucker (Sphy- 

 rapicus v. daggeUi), the Red-naped Sap- 

 sucker {Sphyrapicus v. nuchalis), Mearns' 

 Woodpecker (Melanerpes f. acidealus), 

 Lewis's Woodpecker {Asyndesmus lewisi) 

 the Gila Woodpecker {Centurus uropy- 

 gialis), the Red-shafted Flicker (Colaptes 

 c. collaris), and Mearns' Gilded Flicker 

 {Colaptes c. mearnsi). The nesting cavities 

 of the Gila Woodpecker furnish homes for 

 the Elf Owl, the Ferruginous Pigmy Owl, 

 and the Ash-throated and Arizona Fly- 

 catchers. 



Under the title 'Further Notes from the 

 San Bernardino Mountains,' Van Rossem 

 and Pierce give the results of their observa- 

 tions on thirty-five species, selected from 

 a hundred or more which were found in 

 September, 1914 in the vicinity of Big 

 Bear Lake and Bluff Lake. The shorter 

 notes 'From Field and Study,' eight in 

 number, all relate to birds of Southern 

 California. — T. S. P. 



Book News 



The National Geographic Magazine for 

 August, 1915, contains (pp. 105-158) 

 brief biographies of American game birds 

 by H. W. Henshaw, with 72 colored plates 

 by L. A. Fuertes, the whole forming a 

 valuable addition to the noteworthy 

 series of illustrated articles on American 

 birds which this magazine has published. 



An article on 'Nature's Transformation 

 at Panama,' by George Shiras, 3d, com- 

 pletes a number which has an exceptional 

 interest for nature lovers, and which with 

 its circulation of over 300,000 copies is 

 bound to exercise a wide and important 

 influence. 



The Year Book of the Hartford, Con- 

 necticut, Bird Study Club for 1915, con- 

 tains an announcement of the program for 

 each of the forty-three meetings or excur- 

 sions of the Club which have been planned 

 from September 4, 1915, to June 17, 1916. 

 It may be consulted with profit by all 

 conductors of Bird Clubs. 



