°jg , I Recent Literature, Xll 



console ourselves with the thought that its low price renders it accessible 

 to every one. It is a remarkable literary achievement ; fullv worthy of 

 the time in which it appears. — F. M. C. 



Dwight on the Ipswich Sparrow.' — Dr. Dwight's memoir doubtless 

 constitutes the most complete biography which has ever been published 

 of any North American bird. Beginning with its discovery by Mr. Mav- 

 nard at Ipswich, Mass., in i86S, scarcely a fact in the recorded history of 

 this coast-loving Sparrow is omitted, while the author's experience with 

 it in its summer home enables him to present a monograph admirable for 

 its completeness. From iS68 to 1SS5 the pages of our text-books, ornith- 

 ological and natural history journals, show an increasing number of 

 records of the occurrence of this species in late fall and winter on our 

 coasts from New Brunswick to Delaware. The fact of its regular presence 

 in numbers was then definitely established and, in the oft-quoted words 

 of Mr. Dutcher, it was "relegated to the commonplace." In 1S90 it was 

 recorded by Dr. Rives from Virginia and by Mr. Worthington from 

 Georgia, but until 1894 its summer home was a matter of speculation. 

 Strong evidence was furnished, it is true, that the bird bred on Sable 

 Island. It remained for Dr. Dwight, however, to finally settle the question 

 by visiting the island from May 28 to June 14, 1894. 



As a result of his visit he gives us chapters on the ' History of Sable 

 Island,' 'Physical Aspect of Sable Island,' 'Climate,' 'Flora,' 'Mam- 

 mals,' 'Birds,' and an extended bibliography. 



Sable Island is twenty miles long with a maximum width of one mile. 

 It is described as of probably glacial origin and consists of rolling sand- 

 hills sometimes eighty feet in height resembling in almost ever^- particu- 

 lar, save greater size, the stretches of sand dunes to be found along our 

 Atlantic seaboard. In the hollows among the hills, however, " grasses 

 grow luxuriantly in many places, and a large part is carpeted with the 

 evergreen Crowberry (^Empetrum nigrum L.) and Juniper {JiDiiferus nana 

 Willd.) w^iich are very characteristic productions." 



Distant eighty-six miles from Nova Scotia, Sable Island is farther from 

 the mainland than any continental island otf the coast of eastern North 

 America. Its fauna is, therefore, of peculiar interest. No indigenous 

 mammals were found. Many species of both water and land birds occur 

 as transients, but only ten species were nesting at the time of Dr. 

 Dwight's visit. These he gives in the relative order of their abundance 

 as follows: Sterna paradiscea. Sterna kinmdo, ^'Egialitis semipalmata, 

 Animodramus princeps, Tringa tninutilla, y£gialitis meloda circumcincta. 

 Sterna dougalli. Merganser serrator, Anasobscura, and Actitis macularia. 



* Memoirs of the Nuttall Ornithological Club. No. II. The Ipswich Sparrow 

 (Ammodramus princeps Maynard) and its Summer Home. By Jonathan 

 Dwight, Jr., M. D., with a colored plate. Cambridge, Mass. Published by the 

 Club. August, 1895. 4to. pp. 56; PI. I. $1.50. 

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