Recently published Ornithological Works. 623 



Grinnell on a new Screech Owl. 



[A new Subspecies of Screech Owl from California. By J. Grinnell. 

 Auk, xxxii. 1915, pp. 59-60.] 



Mr. Grinnell here describes a new subspecies of Owl under 

 the name Otus asio quercinus from the southern and more 

 arid districts of California ; it differs from 0. a. bendirei 

 from the more humid districts north of San Francisco in its 

 paler coloration. 



Guj'ney's Ornithological Report for 1914. 



[Ornithological Report for Norfolk (1914). By J. H. Gurney. 

 Zoologist, 1915, pp. 121-146.] 



So far as the occurrence of rare birds was concerned, 

 1914 seems to have been a disappointing year in Norfolk ; 

 the only events worthy of special notice, according to 

 ]\Ir. Gurney, were a Blucthroat in June, a Grey-headed 

 Wagtail in September, and a Little Bustard in October. 

 The Waxwing invasion of the winter 1913-4 soon spent 

 itself, and none were observed later than April 5. 



Cormorants, which Mr. Gurney tells us have not nested 

 in Norfolk since Sir Thomas Browne wrote in the seventeenth 

 century, have recently taken up their quarters on Lord 

 Hastings^ lake at Melton, and a pair have brought up a 

 family in an old Heron's nest. We may recall some 

 beautiful slides exhibited at a recent Meeting of the B. O. C. 

 by Miss E. J. Turner illustrating this interesting event. 



Although the Spoonbills continue to visit the Bveydon 

 mud-flats, they have not yet been induced to follow the 

 example of the Cormorants and breed there. Let us hope 

 that this may come about before long, and that we shall 

 hear that a pair or two of these splendid birds have availed 

 themselves of the opportunities aiEorded them. 



Haagner on South African Birds. 



[South African Ornithologists' Union. Bulletin Series. No. 3. A 

 Descriptive List of South African Bii-ds. Part i. (Families Struthionidaj 

 to Scolopacidae). By Alwin Haagner, F.Z.S. Pretoria, 1914. 8vo.] 



This is the first instalment of a list of South African birds 



