Book News and Reviews 



463 



Available for Free Distribution — 



Distribution and Migration of North 

 American Rails and Their Allies. By 

 Wells W. Cooke. Pp. 50, figs. 19. 1914. 

 (Department Bulletin 128.) 



Bird Migration. By Wells W. Cooke. 

 Pp. 47, figs. 20. 1915. (Department 

 Bulletin 185.) 



. Our Shorebirds and Their Future. By 

 Wells W. Cooke. Pp. 275-294, pis. 3, figs. 

 3. (Separate 642 from Yearbook, 1914-) 



Distribution of American Egrets. By 

 W. W. Cooke. Pp. 5, figs. 2. 1911. (Bio- 

 logical Survey Circular 84.) 



For sale by the Superintendent of Docu- 

 ments — 



Distribution and Migration of North 

 American Warblers. By Wells W. Cooke. 

 Pp. 142. 1904. (Biological Survey Bulle- 

 tin 18.) Price 10 cents. 



Distribution and Migration of North 

 American Ducks, Geese, and Swans. By 

 Wells W. Cooke. Pp. 90. 1906. (Bio- 

 logical Survey Bulletin 26.) Price 10 cents. 



Distribution and Migration of North 

 American Shorebirds. By Wells W. Cooke. 

 Pp. 100, pis. 4. 19 10. (Biological Survey 

 Bulletin 35.) Price 15 cents. 



Distribution and Migration of North 

 American Herons and Their Allies. By 

 Wells W. Cooke. Pp. 70, figs. 21. 1913. 

 (Biological Survey Bulletin 45.) Price 

 10 cents. 



The Ornithological Magazines 



The Auk. — The October issue closes a 

 volume of 568 pages which, like its prede- 

 cessor, is a mine of ornithologica informa- 

 tion. New writers are coming to the front, 

 and some of the veterans are passing away. 

 We read with regret an able obituary of 

 Dr. Theo. N. Gill, by Dr. T. S. Palmer, 

 and there are also brief obituaries of Graf 

 Hans von Berlepsch and Dr. Otto Her- 

 man. The half-tones of Drs. Gill and Her- 

 man are excellent likenesses. 



Dr Frank M. Chapman writes on 'The 



More Northern Species of the Genus 

 Scytalopus; Gould,' describing a new 

 genus (Myornis) and four new species, 

 thus illustrating the analytic side of orni- 

 thology; and Mr. O. Bangs, in 'Notes on 

 Dichromatic Herons and Hawks,' throws 

 together a number of species supposed to 

 be distinct, thus illustrating the synthetic 

 side. Mr. Bangs considers Cory's Bittern 

 a color phase of the Least Bittern, and 

 Ward's and Wurdemann's Herons phases 

 of the Great White Heron. 



Mr. W. W. Cooke presents an un- 

 usually instructive article on 'Bird Mi- 

 gration in the Mackenzie Valley,' graph- 

 ically shown by outline maps of North 

 America with isochronal lines and routes of 

 migration of several species. His theories 

 seem well supported by the facts in most 

 cases, but it should be remembered that 

 new facts might modify very materially 

 the lines as now determined. 



An intimate study of 'The Plum Island 

 Night Herons,' by Mr. S. W. Bailey, is a 

 pleasant bit of word painting, and we feel 

 as we read that we are tramping over the 

 dunes or pushing through the tangle be- 

 tween them, or even sitting among the 

 branches of the rookery itself. Another 

 intimate study is one by Mr. H. Scudder 

 on 'The Bird Bath.' There are no less 

 than five methods of bathing described, 

 evidence, perhaps, that man did not 

 originate the first health resort. 



Mr. S. F. Rathbun furnishes a 'List of 

 Water and Shore Birds of the Puget 

 Sound region in the vicinity of Seattle,' 

 some eighty-two in number; Dr. R. W. 

 Shufeldt writes concerning an extinct 

 Cormorant, of which a few fossil bones 

 are shown in a plate; and Mr. C. E. John- 

 son describes anatomically a four-winged 

 wild Duck, of which there are several 

 plates. 



A brief account by Mr. John H. Sage 

 of the Thirty-third Stated Meeting of the 

 A. O. U. needs little comment, save to 

 say that this meeting in San Francisco 

 was a success, although so far away from 

 its usual habitat. — J. D. 



