92 Recent Literature. [jar? 



1908 — is a valuable guide to the literature of the subject, and will be of 

 great use to future investigators of this general region. The large number, 

 of half-tone plates and text figures are an important addition to the re- 

 port and include, besides maps of the general region and of the life zones, 

 several distribution maps for the more important species of mammals, 

 many landscape views, and views of the Hudson Bay Company's posts, 

 including some of the old Forts of the early days — landmarks of the 

 greatest historic interest. As already implied, Mr. Preble's report is a 

 mine of information regarding the early exploration and present and past 

 conditions of the vertebrate fauna of arctic and subarctic Canada. — J. A. A. 



MacFarlane on the Birds of Northwestern Canada. 1 — In 1891 Mr. 

 MacFarlane published in the ' Proceedings ' of the U. S. National Museum 

 (Vol. XIV, pp. 413-446) his 'Notes on and List of Birds and Eggs collected 

 in Arctic America, 1861-1866.' The present 'List of Birds and Eggs' 

 covers a subsequent period (1880-1894) of the author's explorations, and 

 relates mainly to observations made " in the northern portions of the new 

 Province of Alberta; in New Caledonia, in British Columbia; and Cumber- 

 land, in the Province of Saskatchewan." The observations are fragmen- 

 tary, and the reader will share with the author his regrets that he did not 

 continue "at Forts Simpson, Chipewyan, St. James and Cumberland 

 House, where he was successively stationed from 1866 to 1894," his ob- 

 servations with the same interest and assiduity as at Fort Anderson in 

 previous years. His shortcomings in this respect he holds up as a warning 

 and a stimulus to the officers of the Hudson Bay Company and others 

 who may visit or traverse northern Canada as surveyors and prospectors 

 to do whatever they can "in the way of elucidating and otherwise advanc- 

 ing the Natural History of the great Dominion." 



The list includes about 220 species, the annotations averaging rather 

 more than a page to each; while they include much original information 

 they are often extended by quotations from various published sources, 

 notably from Bendire's 'Life Histories of North American Birds.' These, 

 however, are always pertinent, since much of MacFarlane's ornithological 

 material was sent to the Smithsonian Institution, and passed through 

 Major Bendire's hands, thus forming his principal source of information 

 on the nesting habits and breeding ranges of northern birds. Incidental 

 reference is made, under nearly every species, to the manner of its repre- 

 sentation in the Ottawa (Dominion) Museum, with a view of inspiring 



1 Through the Mackenzie | Basin | a Narrative of the Athabaska and Peace River | 

 Treaty Expedition of 1899 | By | Charles Mair | English Secretary of the Half-breed 

 Commission; Author of | Tecumseh: a Drama, etc. | With a Map of the Country 

 Ceded and numerous photographs of | Native Life and Scenery | Also | Notes on the 

 Mammals and Birds of | Northern Canada | By Roderick MacFarlane | Retired Chief 

 Factor of the Hudson's Bay Company | — 1 Toronto | William Briggs | 1908 — 8vo, 

 pp. 494, map, and 25 half-tone plates. — 'List of Birds and Eggs observed and col- 

 lected in the North-West Territories of Canada, between 1880 and 1894,' by R. 

 MacFarlane, pp. 285-447. $2.00; by mail, $2.25. 



