\..l \ \ \ 



1913 



Hi a nl Literature, I 19 



be called Anas rubripes bu1 if there I"- two then the Red-legged form is 

 Anas rubripes rubripes and the dual y-legged form A. rubripes tristis. I be 

 systematic treatment of the species constitutes Part I. 



Part II of the report comprises histories of t he species which are extinct 

 or extirpated in Massachusetts; the Greal \ul., Labrador Duck, Eskimo 

 Curlew, Passenger Pigeon, Trumpeter Swim, Whooping ('nine, Sandhill 

 Crane, and \\ ild Turkej 



Pari Ml is an admirable discussion of the conservation of Game Birds 

 in which everj elemenl receives careful consideration. 



The problem is a serious one and one thai musl be considered promptly 

 and exhaustively in every state in the Union, if we are to save many of our 

 hinls from the fate which has overtaken those mentioned above. Mr. 

 Forbush suggests seventeen steps, all or most, of which must betaken if we 

 .1 in increase the supply of game birds. These include the following: 

 establishment of (1) bird reservations, (2) systems of federal control of 

 migrating birds, and (3) systems of town wardens in addition to state 

 wardens; prohibiting of (1) sale and export of game, (2) sale and use of 

 ultra-destructive firearms, (3) Bhooting from boats; registration of native 

 hunters and raising of fees for alien hunters, so as to be practically prohibi- 

 tive; limiting of each day's ban; reducing the number of stray dogs and 

 cats; checking forest fires; making the open seasons as nearly uniform as 

 possible; encouraging the propagation and sale of such game as can be 

 raised on game farms; and more important than all the establishment of a 

 better attitude among the public at Large toward the game laws. If the laws 

 are wilfully disregarded as is frequently the case at present all hope for 

 improved conditions might as well be abandoned. In this very field, more 

 perhaps than in any other, Mr. Forbush's work will do an enormous 

 good.— W. S. 



Miller on the Classification of Kingfishers. 1 — Work of the kind that 



Mr. Miller has here presented is most welcome. Whether the multitude of 



bird genera that have been proposed of late years is to stand or fall there 

 c.-m be no question but that we need Ugh1 upon both internal and external 

 characters of the species to guide us in our final judgment, and this so far 

 as the Kingfishers are concerned is provided in the paper before us. The 

 treatise is divided into two parts. I. The Subfamilies of Alccdinida? 

 and II. The Genera of Cerylinse. In the former Mr. Miller reaches 

 the conclusion that t hree subfamilies should be recognized : Cerylincc, Al- 

 cedinina and DaceUmince, the last two being more closely related to each 

 other than is either to the Cerylina. Ceyx, Ceycopsis, I spidince and Myio- 

 ceyx he regard as members of the Aln iliiiimr rat her than of the Dacelonin& 

 where Sharpe placed them, [n the association of these four genera with 

 the other short tailed genera Alcedo, Corythornis and Alcyone, and the ex- 



i \ Revision of the Classification of the Kingfishers. Bj W. DeW. Miller. 

 Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, XXXI, pi>. 239 311. 

 Ncu York, September 12, L912. 



