102 Recent Literature. \j&n 



the many important topics recapitulated may be cited the relation of 

 birds to the cotton boll weevil; California birds in relation to the fruit 

 industry; food of wild ducks; food of woodpeckers; mosquito-eating 

 birds; birds in relation to the codling moth; the economic relations of the 

 Grosbeaks; spread of the English Sparrow in southern California; means 

 of attracting birds; geographic distribution; game protection, etc. Re- 

 specting the latter we quote a single paragraph: "Difficult problems 

 attach also to the task of preserving the non-game birds of the country. 

 Capture of native birds for millinery purposes and for the cage-bird market 

 is under fairly good control; but questions that press constantly for settle- 

 ment arise through absorption of breeding haunts to meet the needs of 

 spreading civilization, the great increase in the number of persons who 

 shoot birds, and other agencies of depletion resulting from changed condi- 

 tions." The measures taken to meet these problems are briefly recounted, 

 as well as those to prevent the importation of undesirable birds and mam- 

 mals. An attempt is now being made to prevent the spread of the English 

 Sparrow into southern California; also to ascertain the present distribu- 

 tion of the Starling in this country, with a view "to devising means to 

 check further increase of its range and to eradicate the pest, as far as possi- 

 ble, in the territory now occupied." It is of interest to here further note 

 that "During the year the office of Geographic Distribution has made 

 considerable advance in mapping the distribution of American birds and 

 mammals, and in getting its accumulated data into shape for convenient 

 reference and use." Meanwhile the gathering of such information on a 

 broad scale continues, while reports on sections already surveyed are 

 being prepared for publication. — J. A. A. 



Mrs. Bailey's ' Handbook of Birds of the Western United States.' ' — The 

 third edition of Mrs. Bailey's 'Handbook' differs from the former editions 

 through the correction of the additional errors discovered, the substitution 

 of many drawings of bird-skins in place of photographs, and a revision of 

 the text under the genus Astragalinus to bring it into accord with the rul- 

 ings of the A. O. U. Committee on Nomenclature. The work is thus not 

 materially changed, tins new edition being issued to meet the continued 

 demand for this excellent handbook. — J. A. A. 



Richmond's List of Generic Terms proposed for Birds during 1901-1905.-' 



1 Handbook of Birds | of the | Western United States | including | the Great 

 Plains, Great Basin, Pacific Slope, and | Lower Rio Grande Valley | By | Florence 

 Merriam Bailey | With thirty-three full-page plates by | Louis Agassiz Fuertes, 

 and over six hundred cuts in the text | Third edition, revised | [Emblem] Boston 

 and New York | Houghton Mifflin Company | The Riverside Press Cambridge. — 

 12mo., pp. xc + 514. $3.50, net; postpaid, $3.69. 



2 Generic Names applied to Birds during the years 1901 to 1905, inclusive, 

 with further Additions to Waterhouse's "Index Generum Avium." By Charles 

 W. Richmond, Assistant Curator, Division of Birds, U. S. National Museum. 

 Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., Vol. XXXV, pp. 583-655. Published Dec. 16, 1908. 



