VOl i907 IV ] RecerU Literature. 363 



relates to the 'Owls of the Nearctic Region' (pp. 157-192, with numerous 

 half-tone illustrations), and the second is a 'List of the Birds living in the 

 New York Zoological Park, December 31, 1906' (pp. 193-212). 1 (See 

 below, under ' Notes and News.') Mr. Beebe treats first of owls in general, 

 their structure, relationships and adaptations; then especially of the owls 

 of North America, by groups or genera, enumerating the species, their 

 ranges, and their leading characteristics and ways of life. We here meet 

 for the first time, we believe, the adoption of the generic name Otus for 

 the Screech Owls, in place of Megascops, in accordance with a recent and 

 as yet unpublished ruling of the A. O. U. Committee on Nomenclature. 1 

 J. A. A. 



Woodruff's ' The Birds of the Chicago Area.' 2 — The territory here con- 

 sidered includes all of Cook and Du Page Counties and the northern part 

 of Will County, Illinois, and the northern part of Lake County, Indiana, 

 or "an area about 50 miles square." An introduction of 24 pages de- 

 scribes the topographic and climatic conditions of the region, certain locali- 

 ties of special interest, with comment on certain extralimital species, and 

 on migration. Then follows the list, very fully annotated, including the 

 citation of authorities for the rarer records; the manner of occurrence is 

 stated, often with reference to former conditions when the species was 

 more abundant. In this connection Mr. E. W. Nelson's 'Birds of North- 

 eastern Illinois,' published in 1876, is drawn upon at length, with great 

 advantage. A short paragraph is usually devoted to the general range 

 of the species outside of Illinois, based mainly on the ranges given in the 

 A. O. U. Check-List or Mr. Ridgway's ' Birds of North and Middle America.' 

 The classification and nomenclature of the A. O. U. Check-List being 

 avowedly followed, considerable space under each species is rather waste- 

 fully devoted to synonymy. 



The list has evidently been prepared with great care and can hence be 

 safely taken as authoritative. It contains a large amount of conveniently 

 arranged information about the birds of the 'Chicago Area,' both past 

 and present. The number of species listed is apparently not stated. An 

 extended — probably nearly complete — bibliography, and separate 

 indexes to the scientific and common names, fittingly close this very 

 creditable piece of work. Nine of the twelve half-tone plates illustrate 

 special features of the country; the other three give views from life of a 

 Bonaparte's Gull, a young Black Tern, and the Belted Plover, with its 

 nest and eggs. — J. A. A. 



1 See. however. Stone, Auk, XX, 1903, pp. 272-276. 



2 The Birds of the Chicago Area. By Frank Morley Woodruff. Chicago Academy 

 of Natural Sciences. Bulletin No. VI of the Natural History Survey. Issued April 

 15, 1907. — 8vo, pp. 1-221, with 12 half-tone plates. Price, 75 cent-. 



