470 Recent Literature. [^ 



ble or probable occurrence — according to the weight and character of 

 the evidence." There may be exceptions to the rule, as in the case of 

 species of easy recognition, like the Turkey Vulture, Swallow-tailed Kite, 

 and the Cardinal, when reported by persons known to have had previous 

 familiarity with the birds in life. "But on no authority, however good, 

 should a mere field observation of any bird that is really difficult to identify, 

 be taken as establishing an important primal record." This is the basis 

 of the author's rulings in the present paper — a proper and the only safe 

 basis in view of the present day methods of numerous amateur observers, 

 who are too often burdening ornithological literature with ill-advised 

 records. 



Lack of space forbids detailed comment on the main text of the work, 

 the 'Annotated List of the Species,' but its general character may be 

 inferred from the excerps already given from the author's preface. For 

 each species, following the technical name,- is given usually, in a single line 

 of small type, the general character of its occurrence, followed by three 

 to five lines of small type respecting its 'seasonal occurrence,' in which 

 dates of arrival and departure, and of nesting, are given, varying in char- 

 acter in accordance with the manner of occurrence of the species. Then 

 follows, in larger type, a detailed statement, consisting of a few lines to 

 several pages, as the case may require, in some instances including trans- 

 cripts from the author's notebooks running back to the later sixties. 

 Many of these local bird histories are of exceeding interest, dealing as they 

 do with the local increase or decrease of various species; while the five 

 pages devoted to so common a bird as the Robin form a most charming 

 bit of local bird lore. 



The illustrations consist of three maps, — one of the 'Cambridge Region' 

 of 1906, one of Cambridge at 1635, and one of Fresh Pond and its sur- 

 roundings as they existed in 1886, — a portrait of Thomas Nuttall, a photo- 

 gravure of a scene in the Maple Swamp (from a photograph taken by 

 the author in June, 1900), a colored plate, by Fuertes, of Acanthis brewsteri 

 (now thought to be probably a hybrid between Acanthis hnaria and 

 Spinus pinus), and a half-tone reproduction of a drawing of the Cabot 

 shooting stand at the outlet of Fresh Pond, in use from about 1832 to 1 840. 



While relating to only a small area, and prepared with strict reference 

 to the local standpoint, 'The Birds of the Cambridge Region' cannot fail 

 to become a classic in the annals of faunistic ornithology. — J. A. A. 



Hellmayr ' On the Birds of the Island of Trinidad'. 1 — "The present 

 paper is primarily based on the extensive collections made by Mr. Andre or 

 his collectors in different parts of the island. Besides these series, which 

 amount to upwards of 1500 skins, the Tring Museum received a number 



1 On the Birds of the Island of Trinidad. By C. E. Hellmayr. Novitates 

 Zoologies, Vol. XIII, No. 1, February, 1906, pp. 1-60. 



