Vol. XIXT r> , T ., 



igo2 J Recent Literature. Ill 



Professor Verrill has located, from these early narratives, some of the 

 breeding places — on some of the smaller outlying islands of the group, 

 — but lack of time prevented any very thorough search for their bones, 

 which he thinks may be found on Castle Island, Southampton Island, 

 and Cooper Island, the latter being in his opinion the most favorable 

 site for such discovery. Here then is another ' ornithological mystery ' 

 worthy of further investigation. — J. A. A. 



Palmer and Old's ' Digest of Game Laws for 1901.' ' — This important 

 'bulletin' presents in convenient form the provisions of the Federal, 

 State and Provincial laws now in force for the protection of game and 

 birds, including the amendments enacted by the various legislatures in 

 1901. It consists, first (pp. n-68) of a 'general discussion of game laws,' 

 including restrictions as to time, methods, and purposes of killing game, 

 and the manner of its shipment ; and, second (pp. 69-14S), abstracts of the 

 laws, with special reference to the shipment and sale of game. "The 

 opening year of the new century has witnessed an unprecedented interest 

 in game protection. Nearly four-fifths of the States and Territories have 

 enacted some amendments to their game laws. . . . Charges in dates for 

 opening or closing the seasons have been vei-y general, but restrictions 

 on methods of capture, on sale, shipment and storage, have also been 

 numerous. In many instances the laws have necessarily become more 

 complex, but there has been a strong tendency toward extending protec- 

 tion to more kinds of game, shortening seasons, limiting bags, and throw- 

 ing greater restrictions about the trade in game." It is therefore of the 

 highest importance to have for handy reference a practically complete di- 

 gest of all the laws relating to the capture, shipment, and sale of game, in 

 the interest not only of sportsmen, but of the increasing number of per- 

 sons who take an interest in game protection. The importance of the 

 subject is rapidly becoming more and more recognized by the general 

 public, which in itself gives great encouragement to the promoters of 

 intelligent protection for both game and non-game birds. — J. A. A. 



Judd's 'The Relation of Sparrows to Agriculture.'^ — The results are 

 here given of a very detailed and thoroughly scientific investigation of 

 the food habits of the native sparrows of eastern North America, with 



1 Digest of Game Laws for 1901. By T. S. Palmer and H. W. Olds, Assist- 

 ants, Biological Survey. Prepared under the direction of Dr. C. Hart Mer- 

 riam. Chief of Biological Survey. Bull. No. 16, U. S. Depart. Agric, Division 

 of Biological Survey, 1901. Pp. 152, and 8 maps and diagrams. 



■''The Relation of Sparrows to Agriculture. By Sylvester D. Judd, Ph. D., 

 Assistant, Biological Survey. Prepared under the direction of Dr. C. Hart 

 Merriam, Chief of Biological Survey. Bull. No. 15, U. S. Dept. Agric, Divi- 

 sion of Biological Survey, 1901. 8vo, pp. 98, pll. 4, and 19 te.xt figures. 



