412 Recently published Ornithological Works. 



California, but within Mexican waters: not to be confounded 

 with an island of the same name in lat. 2G° N. Melospiza 

 coronatorum is described as a " new-species"; though why 

 a hyphen should be placed between new and species it is 

 hard to say. It may be a printer's error, but we are not 

 certain, for some peculiar notions exist as to the use of 

 hyphens. This is shown in a paper by Dr. Edwin W. Doran 

 on the "Vernacular Names of Birds/' in which the author 

 argues that the A. O. U. Cheek-list is incorrect in the 

 omission of hyphens in compound words, such as "Turkey 

 Vulture/' " Prairie Hen/' &c. We are, in the main, of 

 Dr. Doran's opinion, for in these cases " Turkey " and 

 " Prairie " are substantives in apposition, and require the 

 connecting hyphen; moreover, we naturally try to write the 

 language which Prof. Allen, in a reply (p. 73), terms " British 

 English" as contrasted with "American English." How- 

 ever, in case of usage, invoked by Prof. Allen, any argument 

 would be futile, and each must go his own way. In Dr. W. 

 C. Braislin's notes on some birds of Long Island is a record 

 of an immature Larus minutus, obtained May 10th, 1902, 

 along with some Bonaparte's Gulls : a second instance for 

 North America. An important feature of this number is 

 Mr. William Dutcher's Report of the A. O. U. Comm. on the 

 Protection of North-American Birds, in which is shown 

 how much can be done by steady and systematic action as 

 distinguished from the vicarious interference which is too 

 often an excuse for self-advertisement. 



In the April number our fellow-member, Mr. J. L. Bonhote, 

 communicates the results of observations obtained at some 

 of the Bahaman lighthouses. Mr. II . W. Henshaw states 

 that four examples of the Emperor-Goose (Philacte canagicu) 

 were obtained on December 12th in Hawaii, which is by 

 far the furthest southern locality on record, and gives details 

 of some other interesting visitors to the Sandwich Islands. 

 The steamer which plies between Puget Sound and Honolulu 

 was boarded early in October, when 680 miles from land, by 

 a Short-cared Owl (Asia uccipitrinus) , and this, coupled 

 with another similar instance, indicates that there is an 



