Recent Literature. 43 



several of them. Respecting the abundance of the Painted Lark Bunting 

 {Plectrophanes pictus) we quote as follows : " It passes south in October, in 

 company with P. ornatus, and when thus migrating I have seen immense 

 flocks of this bird. I have sat for two hours at a time on a duck-pass, 

 some twelve miles south of the post, and had an almost constant flight of 

 these birds go over me. I estimated that a thousand birds passed me 

 every minute, and their flight appeared in no wise lessening when I de- 

 parted " (I. c, p. 76). Descriptions of the Game-birds occurring in Dakota 

 and Montana have been incorporated with the list, in accordance, as the 

 author tells us, " with the wish of many officers of the army stationed in 

 the Territories," for their assistance in determining the species met with. 

 These descriptions have been taken, with modifications, from Dr. Coues's 

 " Key to North American Birds." Dr. McChesney's report was trans- 

 mitted to Dr. Coues for publication, and appears to have had the benefit 

 of his revision. With Messrs. Roberts and Benner's " Contribution to 

 the Ornithology of Minnesota," printed in this number of the Bulletin, and 

 relating to the region lying a little to the eastward of Fort Sisseton, we 

 have now a pretty fair exposition of the ornithology of the great " Coteau 

 des Prairies " region of Dakota and Minnesota. — J. A. A. 



Minor Ornithological Papers. — Under this heading we propose 

 to give short notices or abstracts of the more important ornithological 

 papers and notes relating to American birds that appear in publications 

 not usually of convenient access to those to whom they are of really great- 

 est interest, namely, the working ornithologists. While no attempt will be 

 made to notice everything bearing upon the subject of ornithology, it will 

 be our aim to record all papers or notes of special value, and especially 

 all papers having the character of local lists, or bearing upon the migra- 

 tion and distribution of species. Reference to notes upon the habits or 

 occurrence of single species, even if comparatively rare, will, from lack of 

 space, necessarily be excluded, unless they contain points of particular 

 interest. Furthermore, no notice will be taken of anonymous or pseudony- 

 mous articles. The record will begin with the close of that given by Dr. 

 Coues in his " List of Faunal Publications relating to North American 

 Ornithology," published in Part First of his " Birds of the Colorado Val- 

 ley," or about July 1, 1878. 



Journals devoted to field and aquatic sports, to " practical " natural his- 

 tory, and the preservation of game, are frequently chosen by excellent 

 field naturalists as their mediums of publication, and in this respect none 

 is more prominent than that deservedly popular newspaper, " Forest and 

 Stream," which, in tone and literary standing, is a model of its class. 

 Beginning with Volume XI of this publication, we note (in. Vols. XI, XII, 

 and XIII) the following : — 



1. List of Birds in Peotone \_Illinois'] and Vicinity. By D. H. Eaton. 

 Forest and Stream. Vol. XI, p. 46, Aug. 22, 1878. — Contains notes 

 on the relative abundance and breeding of 65 species. 



