^'°'i9lf'^^] ^'^'^^^^ Literature. 551 



The question of background may be a matter of taste, but we think that 

 when reduced to a minimum, as in the plate of the small flycatchers, the 

 result is infinitely better than that attained with the abundance of green 

 leaves seen in the warbler plates, or even the landscapes that are intro- 

 duced with some species. 



In both illustration and taxidermy there may be said to be two possible 

 objects in view, a bird portrait or a picture, and the addition of accessories 

 necessary to improve the picturesque effect is bound to detract from the 

 portrait of the individual bird. A group showing a phase of the hfe his- 

 tory may well be a picture but for a work of this kind we prefer the portrait. 

 As already said, however, perfection in the arrangement of plates and size 

 of figures is too much to hope for in any work of even quarto size and the 

 handling of the matter in the ' Birds of New York ' has been all that could 

 be asked, while the work will stand as a monument to both author and 

 artist.— W. S. 



Swarth's List of Arizona Birds. ' — While Arizona has been for many 

 years past a favorite resort for the ornithologist, no one it seems has ven- 

 tured to compile a complete hst of its birds until Mr. Swarth began the 

 work some eleven years ago. The varied topography of the state, our 

 inadequate knowledge of the ranges of many forms and the constantly 

 shifting nomenclature have tended to make the task anything but an easy 

 one, and it is fortunate for ornithology that it was left for one who pos- 

 sessed the perseverance and painstaking accuracy that Mr. Swarth has 

 displayed. 



In general style the list follows Grinnell's ' Check-List of California Birds ' 

 but is more detailed in the statement of ranges and fuller in the citation of 

 authorities for records quoted. The main list contains 362 species, with a 

 hypothetical list of 24. There are 152 residents, 72 summer visitants, 57 

 winter visitants, 30 transients and 51 of casual occurrence. 



A brief discussion of the several hfe zones and their characteristic birds 

 with an original faunal map follows the list, and a bibliography of 313 titles 

 and an index complete the work. The first entry in the bibliography is 

 Gambel's paper of 1843, and Woodhouse's account of Sitgreaves' expedition, 

 1853, is the onlj- other contribution prior to the Pacific railroad reports, 

 while up to 1880 there had appeared only 43 papers bearing upon Arizona 

 birds, so that the Uterature is for the most part comparatively recent. 



Mr. Swarth follows the order and, in the main, the nomenclature of the 

 A. O. U. Check-List departing only in the recognition of certain forms not 

 accepted by the latter; in the rejection of the Westei-n Sparrow Hawk as a 

 distinct race from the eastern bird; and in differences in the rank of several 



1 A Distributional List of the Birds of Arizona. Cooper Ornithological Club. 

 Pacific Coast Avifauna No. 10. Contribution from the Museum of Vertebrate 

 Zoology of the University of California. Hollywood, California. Published by the 

 Club. May 25, 1914, Svo, pp. 1-133, with colored zonal map. 



