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Bird - Lore 



We have received from the Comstock 

 Publishing Company, of Ithaca, New 

 York, a copy of their new Bird Note 

 Book, designed by Anna Botsford Com- 

 stock, and illustrated with outline figures, 

 by Fuertes, of thirty common birds. 



This notebook is planned to combine 

 schoolroom work with field observation. 

 Sixty pages for notes, two for each species, 

 are so arranged that the proper descrip- 

 tive term may be underlined and the 

 blank spaces filled in by the observer. The 

 outline figures are intended for careful 

 coloring in the schoolroom or at home. — 

 W. DeW. M. 



The Ornithological Magazines 



The Auk. — The January issue is a 

 bulky number, and filled with numerous 

 half-tone plates including one of a new 

 Petrel {Mstrelata chionophara), which is 

 described by Mr. R. C. Murphy. The 

 first instalment of an elaborate article by 

 Dr. R. M. Strong 'On the Habits and 

 Behavior of the Herring Gull, Lams 

 argentatus, Pont.,' is well illustrated. The 

 systematic grouping of facts follows the 

 lines of modern research work and the 

 original observations are a well marshaled 

 host, setting a standard for future workers 

 in kindred topics. 



'In Memoriam: Philip Lutley Sclater,' 

 by Dr. D. G. Elliot, marks the passing of a 

 great ornithologist of the old school. 

 During a long and active life, Sclater con- 

 tributed no less than 1,500 scientific 

 papers, most of them on birds, in which 

 his interest never flagged. 



Dr. C. W. Townsend enters 'A Plea for 

 the Conservation of the Eider' on the 

 coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, 

 where persecution by Indians, Esquimaux, 

 and fisherman threatens the duck with 

 extinction. Mr. W. M. Tyler writes 

 minutely 'Notes on the Nest Life of the 

 Brown Creeper in Massachusetts.' He 

 thinks that "the species will be found 

 breeding here as long as the [gypsy] 

 moths continue to kill the trees." Mr. 

 J. D. Figgins, writing on 'The Fallacy 

 of the Tendency toward Ultraminute 



Distinctions,' shows that considerable 

 changes both in size and color have 

 occurred in Gambel's Quail introduced 

 into parts of Colorado some twenty-five 

 years ago. 



Of local lists, we find 'Notes on the 

 Ornithology of Clay and Palo Alto Coun- 

 ties, Iowa,' by Mr. A. D. Tinker, and 

 'Additions to ... . Birds of ... . 

 Cass and Crow Wing Counties, Minn.,' 

 by A. W. Honeywill, Jr. Some nomen- 

 clatural questions are brought up afresh 

 by Mr. G. M. Mathews under title of 

 'Some Binary Generic Names,' and an 

 account of the thirty-first meeting of the 

 A. O. U. is given by our Secretary, Mr. 

 J. H. Sage. Notes and Reviews are 

 numerous and valuable, and an obituary 

 of Alfred Russel Wallace adds another 

 prominent name to the long list of deceased 

 members. — J. D., Jr. 



The Condor. — Two recent numbers of 

 'The Condor' still await notice in these 

 columns. The number for November, 

 concluding Vol. XV, contains nine general 

 articles on a variety of topics. Joseph 

 Mailliard contributes a brief obituary 

 notice of H. B. Kaeding, one of the active 

 members of the Cooper Ornithological 

 Club. Herbert Massey, a member of the 

 British Ornithologists' Union, supple- 

 ments Dr. Shufeldt's recent paper on the 

 eggs of North American Limicolse with 

 an account of the eggs of European spe- 

 cies which are accidental in America. 

 Ray adds 'Some Further Notes on Sierran 

 Field-Work,' with a list of 49 species of 

 birds observed, in June, 1910, in Eldorado 

 County. Mailliard describes three 'Cu- 

 rious Nesting-places of the xAilen Hum- 

 mingbird' at San Geronimo — one on a 

 pulley and another on a rope under a 

 wagon-shed, and the third on a wire hook 

 in a carriage-house. Wright notes briefly 

 12 species of 'Birds of San Martin Island, 

 Lower California.' Dawson contributes 

 three brief but interesting articles, one on 

 'Identification by Camera,' showing the 

 differences between certain shore birds, 

 and two critiques of Ridgway's 'Color 

 Standards,' under the titles, 'A Mnemonic 



