VolXXVIIj Recent Literature. 101 



league Island, Virginia, for their commercial products.' More than fifty 

 years ago, he states, Mr. J. W. Whealton secured a pair -of wing-tipped 

 Wild Geese, which "were the nucleus of his present flock of 450 birds." 

 New blood has been added at frequent intervals, thus avoiding in-breeding. 

 Mr. Beebe's report of this experiment is detailed and full of interest, 

 particularly his account of the habits of the species in confinement and 

 the manner in which the birds are cared for and controlled. The geese are 

 plucked several times a year for their feathers, and thus yield a small 

 revenue. Other species of geese, and several species of swans, are likewise 

 reared on this island by Mr. Whealton, and various crosses have been made 

 between different species of geese, the hybrids being in some cases fertile, 

 in others not so. — J. A. A. 



Shufeldt on the Osteology of Arachnothera magna.^ — Dr. Shufeldt here 

 describes in detail the osteology of one of the larger species of the family 

 Nectariniidfe, in comparison with that of the Cercsbidse, Meliphagidse, 

 Certhiidce, and Trochilidse. He finds that osteologically the species is 

 distinctly passerine, with faint resemblances in some features to the Trochili, 

 but these "have no bearing whatever upon affinity." The plate is a lateral 

 view of the skeleton, from a photograph by the author. — J. A. A. 



Macpherson's 'The Home-Life of a Golden Eagle.' ^ — This is a most 

 interesting narration of Mr. Macpherson's success in watching and photo- 

 graphing a pair of Golden Eagles and their young in the Grampian Hills 

 of Scotland during the breeding season of 1909. The eyrie was discovered 

 on the 23d of April, when it contained two eggs. It was first visited by the 

 author and the eggs photographed, of course with the eyrie and its sur- 

 roundings, on May 3, when a shelter of stones was constructed for the con- 

 cealment of the camera. On the 19th of May there were two eaglets in the 

 nest, apparently about six days old; they were photographed, and arrange- 

 ments were completed for photographing later the old birds at the nest. 

 How successfully this was carried out is recorded in the thirty-two plates 

 illustrating the present brochure, where not only the young birds are 

 shown at various stages of growth and in many attitudes, but the old 

 birds as well on their visits to feed and care for the young. Only one of 

 the young birds reached maturity, leaving the eyrie about the end of July 

 when about eleven weeks old. The narrative is a record of patience and 



1 Breeding Canada Wild Geese on Chincoteague Island, Va. By C. William 

 Beebe. Zool. Soc. Bull., No. 36, October, 1909, pp. 576-579, with half-tone illus- 

 trations. 



2 On the Comparative Osteology of the Passerine Bird Arachnothera magna. By 

 R. W. Shufeldt, M. D., C. M. Z. S. Proe. Zool. Soc. London, 1909, pp. 527-544, 

 pi. Ixviii. 



3 The Home-Iiife | of a | Golden Eagle | Photographed and described I by | H. B. 

 Macpherson | With thirty-two mounted Plates | London | Witherby & Co., 326 High 

 Holborn W. C. | MCiMIX. Large 8vo, pp. 1-45, pll. 1-32 (mounted photographs). 



