444 Recent Literature. [£" t k 



public garden in a large city. Following a short preface and an appro- 

 priate introductory note by Bradford Torrey, well-known to readers of 

 'The Auk,' are some fifty pages devoted to an interesting summary, in 

 turn followed by an 'Annotated List of the Birds of the Boston Public 

 Garden and incidentally of the Common in Migration, 1900-1908,' number- 

 ing 116 species and occupying about 150 pages. Few observers are so 

 circumstanced, even if they possess the inclination, as to be able to devote 

 regularly many hours each day during the spring months for so long a period 

 to the study of the bird life of a city park, and Mr. Wright has done well 

 to share the results of his pastime with other ornithologists and bird lovers. 

 In autmun the garden was again regularly visited from the middle of 

 October to the end of November, and also at intervals during the winter. 



Following a description of the situation, area, and general character of 

 the Garden, and his methods of investigation, certain generalizations are 

 given, from which it appears that "in the case of twenty common resident 

 species, selected for comparison, the first individuals in the series of years 

 have arrived in the Garden from three to eight days later than in the sur- 

 rounding country and that the range of first arrival of each of these species 

 in the nine years has been from three to nineteen days later .... The testi- 

 mony of the Garden seems, therefore, to substantiate very strongly Mr. 

 Brewster's belief that in general the earliest arriving birds are summer 

 residents and that the later arriving birds are migrants bound farther 

 north." Mr. Wright has noted many interesting facts of general interest 

 regarding the manner of migration, the influence of weather conditions 

 upon the length of time migrating birds remain in the Garden, and how 

 different sets of individual birds replace each other during the season of 

 migration. Of special interest also are his daily censuses of birds seen, 

 many of which are given, which include not only the species seen on a given 

 day but the number of individuals of each. Thus on a rainy day in May 

 (May 19, 1900) thirty species were recorded, of which thirteen species were 

 warblers, represented by thirty-three individuals out of a total of fifty-six 

 recorded. On May 16, 1905, thirty-eight species were observed, represented 

 by ninety individuals of which thirty-seven were warblers, representing 

 eighteen species. On May 19, 1907, even this large record was exceeded, 

 but the maximum was on May 12, 1908, when one hundred and thirty- 

 seven birds were noted. In each case, in these censuses, the author 

 gives a list of the species seen and the number of individuals of each. The 

 dates are also given of the larger migration-flights for the whole period of 

 observation. The length of stay of individual birds is noted in a num- 

 ber of instances. 



The annotated list is a systematic report on the author's observations 

 of each of the 116 species recorded, year by year, for the whole period of 

 observation, with detailed records of the visitations of the rarer species, 

 and the earliest and latest records for the more common kinds, with such 

 additional comment as may be required to set forth fully the manner 

 of occurrence. In short, the author has set a standard which other 

 observers may well follow with profit. — J. A. A. 



