1922.] Recently publislted Ornithulogicat l\'orks. 581 



are two coloured plates in the present iiumbeiv, one ot a 

 Hoopoe ill flight, another of the eggs of various British 

 Birds. 



GrinneU's recent papers. 



[Concerning the status of the supposed two races of the Long-billed 

 Curlew. By Joseph Giinnell. Condor, xxiii. 1921, pp. 21-27.] 



[A striking case of sidventitious coloration. Id. Auk, xxxviii. 1921, 

 pp. 129-131.] 



[The principle of " rapid peeriug " in birds. Id. Univ. California 

 Chronicle, 1921, pp. 392-390.] 



[Some birds of the Yosemite National Park. By J. Grinnell and 

 T. 1. Storer, from Hall's Handbook of Yosemite National Park, 

 pp. 133-152 ; 3 photos. New York (Putnam), 1921.] 



The first of these articles sets out to refute the suggested 

 division of the Curlew, Numenius americanus, into two sub- 

 specific races, advocated by Messrs. Bishop, Oberholser, and 

 Ridgway. IVIr. Grinnell certainly seems to show that 

 sufficient evidence has not yet been forthcoming to distinguish 

 two races, although there is much variation in dimensions 

 among these birds, but the material used has been almost 

 entirely taken during migration and not in the breeding- 

 areas. 



The second note deals with a pair of Tits {Baolophus 

 inornatus), which the writer obtained near Berkeley in 

 California and which were bright yellow on the underparts. 

 Some suggested a mutation, some a tropical species, but 

 the explanation appears to be staining with the spores of 

 a slime-mould {^Myxoniycetes). 



In the third article, Mr. Grinnell discusses two very different 

 types of behaviour in regard to the obtaining of food by birds : 

 the one in which the bird perches or stands and waits for 

 the approach of its prey, such as a Blackbird, a Flycatcher, 

 or a Heron, to take European examples ; the other, in 

 which the bird is always in motion, and appears to be of a 

 nervous fidgety temperament, and is always seeking for 

 some stationary objects. Such are the Tits and Golden- 

 crested Wrens. To this latter class, Mr. Grinnell a])plies 

 the expression " tlie principle of rapid peering." These 



