598 Recent Literature. [o" t k 



Roberts on Minnesota Birds. — Dr. Roberts has contributed a valu- 

 able paper ! to the Report of the State Game and Fish Commission, on 

 ' The Water Birds of Minnesota, Past and Present.' It is replete with remi- 

 niscences of the water-bird life of earlier years gathered from Dr. Roberts' 

 personal experiences, which date back to 1S75, and those of others. The 

 style of treatment of the several families varies somewhat, the Grebes, Ducks, 

 Gulls, etc., being considered in groups, while in the case of the shore-birds 

 each species is discussed separately. The status of the rarer species is 

 carefully considered and much important detailed information is made 

 available to the ornithologist, while the main object of the paper — to 

 present information of interest and value to the general public and the 

 sportsman in particular — is not lost sight of. 



Another recent publication 2 of Dr. Roberts is entitled 'A Review of the 

 Ornithology of Minnesota ' and is intended as an aid to students in the 

 University of Minnesota and to others interested in the study of the birds 

 of the State. There is an annotated list of species occurring regularly in 

 Minnesota, another of the rare or accidental species, as well as of the intro- 

 duced, unsettled, and extirpated species, a discussion on vanishing birds, 

 and a hypothetical list of birds recorded from Minnesota, but of which no 

 local specimens have been preserved. Other chapters treat of bird laws, 

 wild life refuges, and an abridged bibliography of Minnesota ornithology. 

 The pamphlet is full of excellent half-tone illustrations from photographs 

 by the author, whose abihty as a bird photographer is well known. 



A f aunal map of the State is also included, in which we find it divided into 

 Canadian, Alleghanian, "Pseudo-Campestrian," and "Pseudo-Carolinian." 

 While we realize the difficulty of drawing satisfactory faunal boundaries 

 where several zones converge, we fail to see the advantage of coining new 

 names. It would seem better to adhere to the nomenclature of the Bio- 

 logical Survey or other recognized authority and to explain in annotations 

 that the zones as they occur in the region under discussion are dilute, not 

 typical, etc. Dr. Roberts is, however, by no means alone in the practise 

 that he has adopted. — W. S. 



Second Ten Year Index to the Condor. 3 — The Cooper Ornithological 

 Club has published as Pacific Coast Avifauna, No. 13, a second ten-year 

 index to ' The Condor,' covering the years 1909-1918, by J. R. Pemberton. 



1 Water Birds of Minnesota, Past and Present. By Thomas S. Boberts, M. D., Curator 

 Zoological Museum, University of Minnesota. Extracted from the Biennial Beport of 

 the State Game and Fish Commission of Minnesota, for the Biennial Period Ending July 

 31, 1918. pp. 56-91. 



; A Beview of the Ornithology of Minnesota. By Thomas Sadler Boberts, M. D. 

 Professor of Ornithology and Curator of the Zoological Museum in the University of Minne- 

 sota. Besearch Publications of the University of Minnesota. Vol. VIII, No. 2. May, 

 1919. pp. 1-100. Addendum and Introduction. Price 25 cents. 



3 Second Ten Year Index to the Condor, Volumes XI-XX, 1909-191S. By J. B. Pember- 

 ton. Pacific Coast Avifauna, Number 13. Hollywood, California. August 15, 1919. 

 pp. 1-92. Cooper Ornithological Club. 



