V0l 'l9U VI11 ] Recent Literature. 513 



Nine interesting species are taken up in detail and their migration routes 

 described and plotted. The extremes of direct and circuitous routes are 

 exemplified by the Black-poll Warbler and the Cliff Swallow respectively. 

 The two races of the Palm Warbler travel by wholly different routes to and 

 from their winter homes. (The author, however, omits to state for the 

 benefit of the general reader, that the Palm Warblers belong to two quite 

 distinct subspecies). The migration line of the Eastern form is from 

 northeast to southwest, while that of the Western race runs from northwest 

 to southeast, the two lines crossing at right angles in Georgia. 



The Connecticut Warbler on its southward flight in the fall follows a 

 wholly different path from that by which it reached its breeding grounds 

 in the spring. An elliptical route such as this is rare among land birds 

 but is followed on a far larger scale by a number of water birds of which 

 the Golden Plover is here taken as an example. 



The greatest traveler of all is the Arctic Tern, which breeds in the Arctic 

 regions and winters in the Antarctic, and in its annual wanderings between 

 these two points must cover over 22,000 miles. The northward migration 

 of the Robin is of interest as it keeps pace with the advance of spring, 

 and the Robins of the Pacific side of the continent travel at a much more 

 rapid rate than those of the Atlantic slope and the interior. A very narrow 

 path from the United States to South America is followed by the Scarlet 

 Tanager; while the Bobolink deserves special mention as it is extending 

 its range towards the Pacific coast, thereby lengthening its route of migra- 

 tion. 



Prof. Cooke also endeavors to trace the evolution of the present remark- 

 able migration lines of the Golden Plover and maps the hypothetical routes 

 of earlier times. — W. DeW. M. 



Beal on the Food of Woodpeckers. 1 — This paper gives the results 

 of the stomach examination of 3500 woodpeckers, representing 22 species. 

 The number of individuals of each kind examined ranges from one of the 

 Gila Woodpecker and two of the Ivory-bill to 684 of the Flicker and 723 

 of the Downy Woodpecker. 



The Red-headed, Hairy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers and the Yellow- 

 bellied Sapsucker are each represented by more than 270 specimens. As 

 the individuals of these six species were taken throughout the United States 

 range of each, representing many subspecies, and in every month of the 

 year, the material is ample on which to base conclusions as to their eco- 

 nomic value. With most of the remaining species, while the results are 

 less conclusive, at least the general character of their food is well shown. 



In the genera of the Melanerpes group the percentage of vegetable food 

 exceeds that of animal, in Picoides and Dryobates the animal food greatly 



i Food of Woodpeckers of the United States. By P. E. L. Beal, Assistant. 

 Biological Survey. Biological Survey Bull. No. 37. 8vo, pp. 64, with 6 colored 

 plates and 3 text cuts. May 24, 1911. 



