° 1914 J Recent Literature. 123 



English Sparrow alone of aU our birds will live in the parkless sections of 

 large cities; to many people there it is the only bird and they would not 

 give it up. As to economic value, it may be said that the English Sparrow 

 is known to feed on a larger variety of insect pests than is any native bird 

 and that it is one of the most effective enemies of the destructive alfalfa 

 weevil. 



The part of the theoretical discussion in SheKord's book that is probably 

 of most interest to readers of ' The Auk ' is that relating to geographical dis- 

 tribution. Remarks on page 161 indicate that the variously proposed 

 laws of temperature control in the opinion of ecologists, do not fit the case. 

 These opinions are summed up by Shelf ord on p. 299: " Nothing is, I 

 believe, more incorrect than the idea that the same s'ngle factor governs 

 the regional distribution of most animal species. Since the environment is 

 a complex of many factors, every animal, while in its normal environmental 

 complex, lives surrounded by and responds to a complex of factors in its 

 normal activities." The question properly asked, " Can a single factor 

 control distribution?" probably must be answered in the negative. 



As to the general style of the book it may be said that it is not adapted 

 to recreative reading. The book is frankly a manual or text-book, hence 

 the style is direct, concise and inornate. The title more properly would 

 read " Animal Communities in the Chicago Region." Temperate America 

 not only includes part of the continent to the south but is of too broad 

 impHcation even for the present treatment of the subject as applied to 

 North America. The illustrations are abundant and good; the bibhog- 

 raphy and indexes are excellent. The publication was subsidized and 

 locally distributed by The Geographic Society of Chicago. It is handled, 

 however, as one of the regular series of University of Chicago publications 

 and may now be obtained only from the University Press. — W. L. M. 



The Oriole.'— This handsomely printed and well illustrated journal 

 appears under the editorship of Mr. John Dryden Kuser who is also presi- 

 dent of the Somerset Hills Bird Club, of which it is the official organ. The 

 objects of the club are the protection and study of birds, and this, their 

 first publication, will go far to attract attention to their work and to 

 stimulate the members to further endeavor. There are articles by mem- 

 bers, on the Chickadee, Passenger Pigeon, Cardinal and Mallard, illustrated 

 by colored plates loaned by the National Association of Audubon Societies, 

 and other contributions of a more general nature including one by W. De W. 

 Miller, 'Hints on Bird Study'; and one by C. Wm. Beebe, 'Feathered 

 Martyrs.' Dr. Wm. H. Wiegmann also contributes three records of the 

 Purple Sandpiper near New York City, and a note on the occun-ence of the 

 Bartramian Sandpiper, both rare species in this vicinity. 



We congratulate the editor of the Oriole upon its creditable appearance 

 and trust it may have a useful and successful career. — W. S. 



1 The Oriole. Official Organ of the Somerset Hills Bird Club, Bernardsvalle, 

 N. J. Vol. 1, No. 1. August, 1913. 



