iOo Recent Literature. [April 



If the information gained is important, the manner in which it is imparted 

 is somewhat exasperating to one unacquainted with previous papers on 

 the subject. The title of the memoir affords no clue to its import; there 

 is no statement of the problem under consideration, and for the first ten 

 pages there is nothing to hint that there is any question as to the specific 

 validity of the bird under consideration; furthermore in no instance do 

 the common and scientific names occur in conjunction. Nevertheless 

 we are much indebted to Mr. Faxon for the memoir. — F. A. L. 



' Cassinia.' ' — The present issue contains a biographical sketch of Dr. 

 William Gambel, by Witmer Stone; an ' Unpublished poem by Alexander 

 Wilson,' by Robt. P. Sharpies; ' Breeding of the Raven in Pennsylvania,' 

 by Richard C. Harlow; 'The Wood Thrush,' by Cornelius Weygant ; 

 ' Nesting of the Blackburnian Warbler in Pike Co., Pa.,' by David E. 

 Harrower; ' Recollections of Wild Pigeons in Southeastern Pennsylvania, 

 1864-1881,' by John G. Dillin; ' Report on the Spring Migration of 1910,' 

 by Witmer Stone; the usual ' Abstract of Proceedings of the Delaware 

 Valley Ornithological Club for 1910'; ' Bibliography for 1910 ' of papers 

 relating to the birds of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, and the 

 usual ' Bird Club Notes ' and list of officers and members. The frontis- 

 piece is a view of the building occupied by the Academy of Natural 

 Sciences of Philadelphia from 1826-1840, at the corner of Twentieth and 

 Sansom Streets, Philadelphia. 



Mr. Stone's biographical sketch of Dr. William Gambel, well known to 

 ornithologists through the various species of North American birds asso- 

 ciated with his name, as described by him or named in his honor, presents 

 the little that is known of his personal history. He is supposed to have 

 been born " somewhere in eastern Pennsylvania or southern New Jersey, 

 and to have early attracted the attention of Thomas Nuttall"; but his 

 actual place of birth appears to be unknown, nor is anything known to 

 Mr. Stone of his family history or of his relatives, nor has he been able to 

 find a portrait of this distinguished pioneer in ornithological research in 

 the wilds of the far West. From Mr. Stone's sketch we learn that he was 

 employed for a short time at the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, 

 and in 1847 was a candidate for the curatorship, but was defeated by the 

 late Dr. Joseph Leidy. He served, however, as Recording Secretary in 

 1848-49, and on the Publication Committee, 1845-49. When little more 

 than twenty-one years of age he made an overland trip to California, re- 

 turning by way of Valparaiso and Cape Horn to Philadelphia in 1845. 

 On this trip he secured the various new species of North American birds 

 described by him soon after his return. In the winter of 1845 he began the 

 study of medicine, obtaining his medical degree in 1848. In April, 1849. 

 he started on a second overland journey to the Pacific coast, leaving Inde- 



1 Cassinia, A Bird- Annual: Proceedings of the Delaware Valley Ornithological 

 Club of Philadelphia. No. XIV, 1910. 8vo, pp. 61 , and frontispiece, March, 1911. 



