358 Recent Literature. \i\\U r 



being separately given, followed by a chronological summary of the records, 

 and a map on which are plotted the places and dates of arrival. An intro- 

 duction of 28 pages states the method and purpose of the work, and gives 

 a tabular presentation of the weather conditions and the arrival records. 

 At the end of the Report is a summary of the records of some 40 'unsched- 

 uled birds,' or species with too few records to treat formally, and a list of 

 the observers and lighthouses from whom observations were received, 

 and a map showing the points at which the observations were made. 



A few of the general statements made in the 'Introductory' are to the 

 effect that the "west of England was in many cases populated before the 

 east and southeast." 'A well-defined route, followed by various streams 

 of immigrants, passes due north from Devon, through Wales and the west- 

 ern counties of Scotland. In the case of some species, which arrived 

 along the whole of the south coast, the direction of flight was due north, 

 but their western flank was invariably in advance of the eastern." Some 

 other species held a northwesterly course, and a few others a northeasterly 

 course. It is the purpose of the Committee to continue these observations 

 and reports for several years, reserving generalizations till much more 

 information has been gathered. The Committee for 1906 consisted of 

 F. G. Penrose, chairman, C. B. Rickett, C. B. Ticehurst, N. F. Ticehurst, 

 and J. L. Bonhote, secretary. — J. A. A. 



Forbes's 'An Ornithological Cross-section of Illinois in Autumn.' — This 

 novel contribution to ecology gives the results of observations made by 

 Messrs. A. O. Gross and H. A. Ray, on a trip across the State of Illinois 

 from Danville to Quincy, August 28 to October 17, 1906, under the direc- 

 tion of Professor Forbes, who here ' summarizes the results. The strip 

 surveyed was 150 feet in width for the whole distance of 192 miles, or an 

 area of five and a half square miles. The total number of birds observed, 

 and recorded with reference to their mode of occurrence, as whether in 

 corn, wheat, stubble, or plowed fields, meadows, orchards, pasture lands, 

 swamps, etc., was 4804, representing 93 species. Of this total number 

 1620, or about one third, were English Sparrows; 90 per cent, of the birds 

 seen belonged to 20 species, and 85 per cent, to 15 species. Eliminating 

 the English Sparrow from consideration, the number of individuals seen 

 for 18 species ranged, respectively from 57 for the Blue Jay to 517 for the 

 Crow Blackbird. 



Besides the discussion of the observations, the data are conveniently 

 presented in 12 tables, and the paper closes with a tabular list of all the 

 species observed; the route is divided into six sections, thus giving approxi- 

 mately the dates and localities where the birds were seen, as well as the 

 number for each section. 



1 An Ornithological Cross-section of Illinois in Autumn. By S. A. Forbes. Bull. 

 Illinois State Laboratory of Nat. Hist., Vol. VII, April, 1907, pp. 305-335. 



