204 Recent Literature. [\^fl 



mammals is by Edmund Heller. From April 17 till August 9 the entire 

 party was occupied in collecting and exploring at various points on Ad- 

 miralty, Baranof, and Chichagof Islands, and at Glacier Bay, at which 

 latter date most of the members returned home. Mr. Stephens, however, 

 remained and continued to work in the same region till August 29, and 

 later stopped at Thomas and Helen Bays, between Juneau and Dixon 

 Entrance. The collections included 532 birds, 22 sets of eggs and nests, 

 and 476 mammals, and has been presented by Miss Alexander to the Uni- 

 versity of California Museum of Vertebrate Zoology. A map shows the 

 region traversed, and there are several half-tone scenic illustrations. 



The report on the birds, by Dr. Grinnell, records 99 species, of which 81 

 were represented by specimens, with very full notes based on the field 

 books of the collectors. Two species and four subspecies are described as 

 new, namely: Lagopus alexandrce, from Baranof Island; Lagopus dixoni, 

 from Chichagof Island; Buteo borealis alascensis, from Glacier Bay and 

 Chichagof Island; Picoides americanus fumipectus, based on a single speci- 

 men from Chichagof Island; Loxia curvirostris sitkensis, from Admiralty 

 Island; Planesticus migratorius caurinus, also from Admiralty Island. 

 The author "still believes that there are two races of the Varied Thrush,'' 

 in opposition to the recently expressed opinion of Mr. Ridgway. In this 

 belief he is supported by the A. O. U. Committee, which at its last meeting 

 declined to accept its proposed elimination, this decision being based 

 on then recently acquired material (cf. Auk, XXV, July, 1908, p. 398). 



The field notes here incorporated contain much interesting information 

 respecting the breeding habits of a number of the species met with, and 

 Dr. Grinnell adds important comment on variations of plumage, based in 

 some instances on large series of specimens (38 skins of the rare Kitilitz 

 Murrelet were obtained). The report is thus an important contribution to 

 Alaskan ornithology. — J. A. A. 



Grinnell on Birds observed at Salton Sea. 1 — This paper gives observa- 

 tions on about half-a-dozen of the water birds seen, but a future paper on 

 the land birds is promised. The expedition was made in April, 1908, in 

 the interest of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, at the University of 

 California, of which Dr. Grinnell is curator. On Echo Island, in Salton 

 Sea, was found a large breeding colony of the American White Pelican 

 (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) , "the southernmost nesting-colony" of this 

 species. A census of the colony gave a total of " 980 occupied nests, besides 

 others in process of construction. At the very minimum there were 2000 

 pelicans here assembled." A very full account is given of the character 

 of the nests, with photographic illustrations. On the nearby Pelican Island 

 was a breeding colony of Farallone Cormorants, of which 147 nests were 



1 Birds of a Voyage on Salton Sea. By J. Grinnell, Condor, Vol. X, No. 5, Sept. 

 Oct., 1908, pp. 185-191. 



