Vq, iS ^"] Recent Literature. 7 ^ 



Fisher's Hawks and Owls from the Standpoint of the Farmer. 1 — This 

 is a condensed and very useful summary of the relations of Hawks and 

 Owls to agriculture, based on Dr. Fisher's more elaborate ' Bulletin ' - 

 on the same subject. lie considers first the ' Cause of the Prejudice 

 against Birds of Prey," and then refers to 'some characteristics of rapa- 

 cious birds,' and to the 'food habits' of the principal North American 

 species, and then proceeds to briefly treat of the species under the several 

 categories of wholly "harmless species of Hawks and Owls,'' "wholly 

 beneficial Hawks," "Hawks and Owls mostly beneficial," and "harmful 

 Hawks and Owls." Among the latter are the Gyrfalcon, the Duck Hawk, 

 the Goshawk, Cooper's Hawk, and the Sharp-shinned Hawk, the two 

 latter, owing to the northern distribution of the others, being really the 

 only species occurring in the United States in sufficient numbers to be of 

 any particular importance as enemies of the farmer. These two species, 

 with the Goshawk, Dr. Fisher believes, are the cause of the "unjust 

 hatred and suspicion with which our Birds of Prey are held," in conse- 

 quence of their often serious depredations upon poultry and game. The 

 publication is timely and should do much to develop a more rational 

 sentiment respecting the real character and the beneficial influence of 

 most of these long-persecuted birds. — J. A. A. 



Beddard's ' Text-book of Zoogeography.' 3 — In view of Mr. Beddard's 

 excellent little work entitled 'Animal Colouration' (see Auk, X, 1893, 

 pp. 195-198), and his many valuable contributions to technical zool- 

 ogy, the present work is not a little disappointing and will hardly add 

 to the author's reputation as a careful and trustworthy investigator. The 

 pages give evidence of either haste or carelessness, aside from the 

 numerous typographical inaccuracies. Thus we are told, to cite a few 

 examples, that Gallinula ckloropus and Totanus incanus (p. 10) are 

 among the comparatively few species "that have a world-wide range " ; 

 that the Curassows (p. 27) occur in California; among the genera enum- 

 erated as confined to the ' Palrearctic Region ' (p. 89) are Peri so reus, N/iri- 

 fraga, Cyanocitta, and Acanthis (!) ; Elasmognathus (p. 109) is said to 



1 Hawks and Owls from the Standpoint of the Farmer. By A. K. Fisher, 

 M. D., Assistant Ornithologist, U. S. Department of Agriculture. Reprinted 

 from the Yearbook of the U. S. Department of Agriculture for 1894 (1895), 

 pp. 215-232, pll. 1-3, and 3 fig. in text. 



2 See Auk, X, 1893, P- IQ 9- 



:) A Text-book of Zoogeography. By Frank F. Beddard, M. A. (Oxon.) 

 F. R. S., Prosector of the Zoological Society of London, and Lecturer on 

 Biology at Guy's Hospital. Cambridge: At the University Press. 1S95. A " 

 Rights reserved. 8vo, pp. viii, 246. (Cambridge Natural Science Manuals' 

 Biological Series.) 



