VOl 1909 :VI ] Recent Literature. 93 



interest in its deficiencies. To a certain extent, the present 'List' gives 

 a resume of the results of MacFarlane's long period of natural history work 

 in northern Canada, and as such is a contribution of unusual interest. 

 The numeration and nomenclature are those of the A. O. U Check-List, 

 but through some inadvertence, a number of the water birds follow the 

 Passeres, with no note of advice or warning that such is the case. Also, 

 on p. 422, the heading "636. Black and White Warbler — MnioHlta 

 varia (Linn.)" is given twice; as its second use evidently relates to that 

 species, the preceding species is left nameless and not easily identifiable. 



Mr. MacFarlane's 'Notes on the Mammals,' occupying pages 151-283, 

 and preceded by a portrait of the author, is an especially important con- 

 tribution to the mammalogy of the region, the statistical and geographical 

 information respecting many of the fur-bearing animals being exceedingly 

 valuable. The nomenclature of the list "has been carefully revised by 

 the naturalists of the U. S. National Museum," and is hence fully up to 

 date, and stamps the list as thoroughly trustworthy. 



Mr. Mair's portion of the work, occupying the first 150 pages, gives a 

 vivid picture of the topographic and climatic conditions of the country 

 traversed by the treaty expedition of 1899, of which he was a member, 

 and contains also much historic information of fascinating interest. Mr. 

 MacFarlane's portion of the work contains descriptions and illustrations 

 of a number of the old Hudson Bay Company's posts, the names of which 

 have long been household words in natural history annals — Forts Ander- 

 son, McPherson, Chipewyan, Resolution, Good Hope, etc. — J. A. A. 



Knights' 'The Birds of Maine.' — In a portly volume 1 of nearly 700 

 pages, Mr. Knight has given the ornithological public a useful manual of the 

 bird fauna of the State of Maine. The analytical keys and the descriptions 

 of the species, it is stated, are compiled and adopted from Ridgway's 

 'Manual' and 'Birds of North and Middle America,' Chapman's 'Hand- 

 book,' and other standard sources. The descriptions are followed by a 

 brief summary of the distribution, including breeding and winter ranges, 

 followed by the county records of the species, with the authorities, a list 

 of which is given in the Introduction. The life histories are largely based 

 on the author's own observations and experience, and vary in length, 

 according to the species, from a half page to several pages, and relate 

 mainly to the bird's occurrence in Maine. The nomenclature is that of the 

 A. O. U. Check-List and its Supplements down to the Thirteenth, the Four- 



1 The Birds of Maine | With Key to and Descriptions of the various | species known 

 to occur or to have occurred | in the State, an Account of their Distribu- | tion and 

 Migration, showing their relative | abundance in the various Counties of the | State 

 as well as other regions, and con- | tributions to their Life Histories | By | Ora Willis 

 Knight, M. S. | Member of Maine Ornithological Society, Member American Chemical 

 Society, | Member American Ornithologists' Union, Etc. | Bangor, Maine | 1908 — 

 8vo, pp. vii + 693, map, and 25 half-tone' plates. $3.50, express paid. Regular 

 edition, 200 copies; subscription edition, 300 numbered and signed copies. 



