64 



TUB OOLOGIST 



ers, and gazed upward. "She's the 

 hardest one I ever tackled yet" was 

 all he said. But he slowly ascended 

 the great oak and finally reached the 

 first limb, — poor old chap, he was 

 well winded, but he reached the nest 

 and secured the three large eggs. Few 

 climbers could have reached the nest; 

 Hugh did so because he is gifted with 

 great nerve and a spirit that never 

 says die. 



S. S. Dickey. 



Publications Received. 



University of California Publications 

 in Zoology; Vol. 12 No. 4, March 20, 

 1914. 



An Account of the Mammals and 

 Birds of the Lower Colorado Valley. 

 by Julius Grinnell. 



This is a splendid contribution of 

 221 pages, 1 map and 21 figure plates. 

 It deals with a little known territory 

 and describes a floating boat trip from 

 Needles, California, to about the Mex- 

 ican border near Yuma, Arizona, 285 

 miles by river and near 150 miles in 

 an air line. Stops or camps were made 

 at 29 different points beginning at 

 Needles, February 15th and ending 

 near Pilot Knob, May 15, 1910. 



Besides other Zoological specimens, 

 1374 birds and 22 sets of eggs were 

 obtained, all of which now rest in the 

 Museum of the University. Professor 

 Grinnell was accompanied by Frank 

 Stevens, Joseph Dixon and L. Hollis- 

 ter Jones, all well known scientists. 



The publication consists of an intro- 

 duction, a description of the itinerary, 

 — of the Colorado River, a resume of 

 the Zonal and Faunal position of the 

 region and of the associational areas 

 and of the effect of the river on the 

 distribution of birds and mammals. 

 Also a bit of the birds numbering 150 

 and copious notes based on their ob- 

 servation, besides much other matter 

 relating to the mammals. 



This is an unusually good output 

 relating to an almost unworked re- 

 gion and we are glad to say is rather 

 freer than we might fear, of attempts 

 to name supposed local varieties of 

 birds based on superfine, infinitismal. 

 unimportant differentiation, for which 

 the author deserves the thanks of orni- 

 thologists generally. We have had too 

 much of that in the past. 



UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 

 PUBLICATIONS IN ZOOLOGY, Vol. 

 Ill No. 14, February 27, 1914. 



"A DETERMINATION OF THE 

 ECONOMIC STATUS OF WESTERN 

 MEADOW LARKS," by Harold C. 

 Bryant. 



This is one of the most thoroughly 

 exhaustive papers that we have seen 

 in a long time. It is well prepared, 

 nicely arranged, and will long stand 

 as a last work upon the subject. As 

 the result of 1920 Meadowlarks sacri- 

 ficed in this investigation the conclu- 

 sion is reached that the Western 

 Meadowlark is a beneficial bird, and 

 not an injurious one; a fact which was 

 known to practically everybody be- 

 fore the investigation was inaugurat- 

 ed. 



It is a mistake to give serious con- 

 sideration to the carpings of a few 

 hair-brained self-interested people 

 who are to be found in practically 

 every community relating to the tre 

 mendous distinctiveness of some par- 

 ticular species or family of birds, 

 about which they usually know very 

 little or nothing at all, and it seems 

 a shame to sacrifice so large a number 

 of our feathered songsters to prove 

 that which everybody except a few^ 

 people of this class already know. 



I 



Starlings. 



The Starlings have come to stay. 

 This winter thousands swarmed the 

 country around Philadelphia in flocks, 

 one containing fully seven hundred 



