286 



Bird - Lore 



fifty-four pages and seventeen illustra- 

 tions. It contains five main articles, 

 eighteen short notes, and five pages of 

 editorials, reviews, and minutes of Cooper 

 Club meetings. 



The opening article of B. Dixon on a 

 'History of a Pair of Pacific Horned Owls' 

 is well illustrated, and is based on a series 

 of observations in the Escondido Valley, 

 San Diego County, extending over a 

 period of thirteen years. During this time 

 the Owls nested three times in old Hawk's 

 nests in trees, twice in a Hawk's or 

 Raven's nest in a cliff, and at other times 

 made their home on a rocky ledge. Five 

 sets of three eggs were laid, but all the 

 others contained but two eggs each. The 

 dates of laying (completed sets) varied 

 from Jan. 29, 1911, to Feb. 14, 1907. 



Another Owl article appears under the 

 title of 'An Asionine Ruse,' in which 

 Dawson recounts briefly an experience in 

 Washington with a Long-eared Owl that 

 went through all the motions and cries 

 attendant on capturing a Flicker or a 

 mouse, apparently merely to decoy the 

 intruder away from her nest. 



In a short but very interesting article 

 on 'Destruction of Birds in California by 

 Fumigation of Trees,' A. B. Howell 

 reports finding ninety-two dead birds, 

 representing nine species, under two hun- 

 dred trees, the morning after his orange 

 grove at Covina had been fumigated. He 

 suggests that a law imposing a fine of 

 five cents for each bird killed might make 

 fumigators more careful. 



Among 'Some Discoveries in the Forest 

 at Fyffe,' in El Dorado County, made 

 during a ten days' stay in May, 1913, Ray 

 describes and gives some very clear photo- 

 graphs of a nest of the rare Hermit Warbler 

 and a family of young Saw-whet Owls, the 

 latter constituting the first definite breed- 

 ing record for this Owl in California. 



A contribution on the 'Birds of Sitka 

 and Vicinity, Southeastern Alaska.' by 

 George Willets, contains careful notes on 

 152 species observed during the summers 

 of 191 2 and 1913 on Kruzof, St. Lazaria, 

 Biorka, and other islands in or near 

 Sitka Sound. 



In a review of Grinnell's report on the 

 'Birds of the San Jacinto Area,' Dawson 

 takes exception to the substitution of the 

 term 'summer visitant' for 'summer resi- 

 dent.' "Am I," he asks, "only a 'winter 

 visitant' at Santa Barbara, because I 

 spend four months at home and eight, or 

 thereabouts, afield. The state holds 

 otherwise, and so does common sense." 



The May number of 'The Condor' con- 

 tains an unusually varied and interesting 

 series of eight papers. The opening 

 article is the presidential address of Harold 

 C. Bryant on 'The Cooper Club Member 

 and Scientific Work' delivered before the 

 Northern Division of the Club on March 

 19. After briefly sketching the history of 

 the Cooper Club, he divides the general 

 work of the organization into eight 

 groups: Collecting specimens; prepara- 

 tion of local lists, recording field observa- 

 tions, description of new species, photog- 

 raphy, distribution, economic investiga- 

 tions and conservation of wild life, and 

 adds the comment, "If there is anything 

 in our work that we have possibly over- 

 done, it is the plain faunal list." 



Jewett's 'Bird Notes from Netarts 

 Bay, Oregon,' including observations on 

 fifty-seven species of water-birds and 

 shore-birds, made in 1912 and 1913, and 

 Saunders' 'Birds of Teton and Northern 

 Lewis and Clark Counties, Montana' 

 (182 species), are the only local lists in 

 this number. Allan Brooks contributes 

 two papers, one on 'The Races of Branla 

 canadensis' and the other entitled 'A 

 Sadly Neglected Matter.' In the latter, 

 he calls attention to the importance of 

 noting the color of the bill, feet, and iris 

 on the labels of all bird skins, and men- 

 tions several cases in which failure to 

 record these facts has given rise to error 

 in descriptions, or failure to differentiate 

 properly forms which are closely related. 



Thayer's account of the 'Nesting of the 

 Kittlitz Murrelet' high up on the slopes 

 of Pavloff Volcano, on the Alaskan 

 Peninsula, is one of the most important 

 facts recorded for some time. The eggs 

 of this species, previously unknown, were 

 discovered by Captain F. E. Klein- 



