452 Recent Literature. [£ u t k 



Labrador, July 10 to August 3, 1906, with localities and date of observa- 

 tions, the list numbering about sixty species. 



The Labrador of the present paper includes the whole peninsula com- 

 monly known by that name, extending from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to 

 Hudson Strait, its eastern coast extending from N. Lat. 52° to about 63°. 

 Faunally it extends from the Arctic barren grounds, which wholly occupy 

 its northern part and a narrow strip along the entire eastern coast, across 

 the Hudsonian and into the Canadian zone, the latter extending, in a gen- 

 eral way, to "the latitude of Hamilton Inlet." The characteristic species 

 of both plants and birds are enumerated for each of the three zones. 



Among the points of special ornithological interest are the notes on the 

 Great Auk, the Labrador Duck and the Eskimo Curlew, and on various 

 species wrongly attributed to Labrador. Otocoris alpestris praticolor is 

 eliminated as a bird of Labrador, "the Horned Lark of the Labrador 

 coast, both eastern and southern," being considered as "the northern race, 

 Otocoris alpestris alpestris"; and in this connection the alleged recent 

 eastward extension of praiicola is again considered as probable. The 

 supposed Labrador race of the Savanna Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis 

 labradorius Howe') is again shown to be untenable, even Mr. Oberholser, 

 contrary to his "previous suspicions," being unable to find "any sub- 

 stantial difference worth recognizing by name." The determination of 

 the status of the Labrador Horned Lark and Savanna Sparrow was among 

 the incentives that induced the authors to undertake the Labrador trip. 

 Altogether the paper that has resulted is one of unusual interest and value, 

 clarifying and summarizing our knowledge of Labrador ornithology. — 

 J. A. A. 



Townsend's 'Along the Labrador Coast.' 1 — This is an entertaining narra- 

 tive of the trip along the Labrador coast that furnished the basis of Town- 

 send and Allen's 'Birds of Labrador,' described above. It consists, as 

 would be expected, mainly of notes on the natural history, and especially 

 on the birds of the Labrador coast, but contains as well an interesting 

 account of the country, its industries and people. The narrative is pleas- 

 antly written, and as little worth noting appears to have escaped the 

 author's attention it is full of general as well as ornithological information 

 about the parts of the country visited. The author's ornithological obser- 

 vations are here recorded in much greater fulness and much more informally 

 than in the 'Birds of Labrador,' and have thus the freshness of the daily 

 note-book jottings of the bird-lover in fresh fields. An index, which gives 

 the technical as well as the common name of the species observed, gives 

 definiteness as well as easy access to the natural history matter of the text. 



i Along the | Labrador | Coast I — | By | Charles Wendell Townsend. M. D. | 

 Author of "The Birds of Essex County" | With illustrations from Photographs | and 

 a map [Seal] — | Boston Dana Estes & | Company Publishers | [1907] (no date). 

 Price, $1.50. 



