Vol-^XXIXJ Recent Literature. 259 



micus are intentional or accidental deviations we cannot say as they are 

 used without comment. 



It would have been better perhaps if the ' distributions ' had been quoted 

 more exactly from the A. O. U. list as some of them as they stand are rather 

 misleading, the Western Grebe for instance is said to breed south to central 

 Mexico. Some other remarks are rather startHng as the statement that 

 the Thrasher gets its name from "its habit of beating or thrashing the 

 insects it catches until dead and deprived of wings and legs," while the 

 'double moult' as a character of the Sylviida; does not seem to apply to 

 any of the Colorado species. By a curious lapsus Mr. D. D. Stone is 

 constantly referred to as Mrs. Stone! These however do not detract from 

 the general excellence of Mr. Sclater's volume which certainly provides 

 Colorado ornithologists with an admirable basis for future work.— W. S. 



Howell's Birds of Arkansas. ^ — There are to-day but few states without 

 adequate bird-lists. One of the most neglected in this respect has been 

 Arkansas, but thanks to Mr. Howell we have now an admirable annotated 

 catalogue of the 255 species and subspecies hitherto taken in the state or 

 reported by competent observers. 



The data upon which the report is based were largely collected by the 

 author during a collecting trip in the spring and early summer of 1910, 

 while additional information was gathered by other members and cor- 

 respondents of the Biological Survey. The dearth of publications on the 

 birds of Arkansas may be realized when we find that the author is able to 

 quote only four titles in his bibliography and that prior to 1902 only 48 

 species had been reported from the state. 



The distribution, time of occurrence and relative abundance of the 

 various species are well discussed by Mr. Howell while the breeding ranges 

 of several species are carefully mapped, those of the Whip-poor-will and 

 Chuck-will's-widow proving to be almost exactly complementary. Several 

 excellent halftone plates from drawings by Fuertes and photographs of 

 characteristic scenery and a faunal map add to the attractiveness of the 

 report. — W. S. 



Burns on the Broad-winged Hawk.= — Mr. Burns has brought together 

 in this monograph a vast amount of information. It is based upon "twenty- 

 two years of personal observation and five years of close study of the 

 literature." Those portions which are based upon the author's personal 

 observations form the most valuable part of his work. Mr. Burns has 



J Birds of Arkansas. By Arthur H. Howell, Assistant Biologist. Biological 

 Survey. U. S. Department of Agriculture. Biological Survey Bulletin No. 38. 

 1911. pp. 1-100. 



2 A Monograph of the Broad-winged Hawk, Buteo platypterus. by Frank L. Burns 

 with the co-operation of over one hundred American Ornithologists and the 

 compilation of the World's Literature. Wilson Bulletin, XXIII, Nos. 3-4, Sept.- 

 Dec, 1911, pp. 141-320. 



