212 Notes and News. [am 



The Cooper Ornithological Club of California has begun the 

 publication of a 16-page bi-monthly 'Bulletin,' of which Nos. i and 2 of 

 Volume I have been received. It is edited by Chester Barlow, with Henrv 

 Reed Taylor and Howard Robertson as assistant editors. It is a large 

 octavo, illustrated, and well printed. The first number (Jan.-Feb.) con- 

 tains a portrait and a biographical sketch of Dr. James G. Cooper, by Mr. 

 W. O. Emerson, and various short papers on California birds, by well- 

 known California ornithologists, including an account of the nesting of 

 the Fulvous Tree Duck, by Mr. A. M. Shields. A new subspecies of the 

 Brown Towhee (Pipilofuscus carolce) is described by Mr. Richard C. 

 McGregor. The second number (March-April) is filled with excellent 

 papers and shorter articles, including the description of a new subspecies 

 of the Myrtle Warbler (Det/droica corona/a hoover i~), and of the Song 

 Sparrow {Melospiza fasciata ingersolli), by Mr. McGregor. The 'Bulletin 

 of the Cooper Ornithological Club,' thus early, takes a prominent place 

 in the ornithological literature of North America, and is a credit to the 

 energy and enterprise of California ornithologists. 



The Maine Ornithological Society (formerly the United Ornitholo- 

 gists of Maine) has also begun the publication of an official organ to be 

 issued quarterly, under the title 'The Journal of The Maine Ornitholog- 

 ical Society, A Quarterly Journal of Maine Ornithology,' under the 

 editorship of Mr. C. Morrell. The first number (Jan., 1S99), contains an 

 account of the annual meeting of the Society, held at Waterville, Dec. 31, 

 189S, and papers by Mr. Arthur H. Norton, Prof. A. L. Lane, and Mr. 

 Arthur Merrill. The principal paper of the second number (April, 1899) 

 is by Capt. Herbert L. Spinney on 'The Gulls and Terns of Sagadahoc 

 County.' Editorial and other notes complete the number. The 'Journal ' 

 -will doubtless be an important addition to the periodical literature of 

 North American ornithology. 



' Bird-Lore ', announced in the January number of ' The Auk ' as soon 

 to appear, has made its bow to the public and has been received every- 

 where with unstinted praise. It is therefore needless to say that it has 

 amply fulfilled the promises held forth in the prospectus, and has, on its 

 own merits, taken its place at the front in the list of popular natural 

 history magazines. The abundant half-tone reproductions of photographs 

 from birds in life are among the finest thus far produced, and the beauti- 

 ful cover, general makeup, and elegant typography are quite up to the 

 standard of the illustrations. It has a field peculiarly its own, and one in 

 which it can do great good. It is nothing to its discredit that it purposely 

 avoids the technical side of ornithology, aiming instead to interest the 

 public in the esthetic and humanitarian aspects of bird study. That 

 there is need of and a demand for such a journal has of late become more 

 and more manifest, and ' Bird-Lore ', with its avowed purpose to promote 

 the "study and protection of birds," has come none too soon, and that it 



