° 1919 J Recent Literature. 4o7 



Sparrow family " there is little or no difference in the colors of the male 

 and female," the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Blue Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting 

 and Nonpareil being familiar examples to the contrary. Perching birds, 

 the author tells us, have " short legs with slender toes having many joints, 

 the better to cling to the perch," but he will find that the other groups with 

 which he contrasts them have just as many " joints," birds being remark- 

 ably constant in this respect and the exceptions few. Again we are told 

 that in the autumn the gay suits of the males of many species " are 

 doffed and sober colored coats better adapted for travel are put on." Had 

 the author paused to think he must have realized that these very birds 

 had traveled successfully in their brilliant spring garb on the northward 

 flight and he would have sought some other reason for the change. There 

 is throughout, a misleading use of the word " variety " for " species." 

 These terms have distinct meanings in natural history and such careless 

 usage tends to bewilder the reader. The author's idea of what is meant 

 by classification is decidedly hazy, since he states that the classification 

 of the A. O. U. is adopted, but apart from the fact that the members of 

 some of the larger groups like the Sparrows and Woodpeckers are arranged 

 together there is no attempt at classification whatever. 



These and other misstatements can easily be corrected in another edition 

 but it is a great pity that the book was not placed in the hands of some 

 competent critic before publication, as was done in the case of Mr. Moseley's 

 little work. Mr. Pearson's foreword is well enough as an exposition of the 

 importance of bird study but it is obvious that he was not given the oppor- 

 tunity of reading the manuscript. The illustrations are in part from the 

 leaflets of the National Association of Audubon Societies while others 

 are early efforts of Mr. Fuertes which appeared originally in ' Citizen Bird ' 

 and elsewhere. — W. S. 



Stephens on the Birds of San Diego County, California. — This 

 well printed list 1 covers 320 species and subspecies which the author has 

 established as having occurred in the county. The annotations are brief 

 and describe the general nature of the bird's occurrence with data for rare 

 captures, while under the family headings are given some mention of the 

 habits of the species. Mr. Stephens is a well known authority on the birds 

 of the region of which he writes and his list is an important addition to the 

 literature of California ornithology. By a slip of the compositor we notice 

 that the Nevada Cowbird appears in the Corvidae instead of with its allies 

 in the Icteridae. — W. S. 



Swarth on New Subspecies of Passerella iliaca. — An exhaustive 

 study of the Californian Fox Sparrows leads Mr. Swarth to separate 2 



1 Ad Annotated List of the Birds of San Diego County, California. By Frank Stephens. 

 Transactions San Diego Society of Natural History, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 142-180. February 

 15, 1919. 



2 Three New Species of Passerella iliaca. By H. S. Swarth. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., Vol. 

 31, pp. 161-164. December 30, 1918. 



