Recent Literature. 2 39 



and along the ridges in the western part of the State (B. Horsford)." 

 But these elevated places are both outlying spurs of the Canadian region 

 and many strictly Canadian species, such as the Black Snowbird, regular- 

 ly breed there. The occurrence of nests at Eastford, Connecticut, is 

 certainly hard to understand, but the explanation may probably be found 

 in some peculiar feature of the locality where they were taken. At all 

 events there are at present no sufficient reasons for regarding them as 

 other than exceptional examples. 



Siurus ncevius.—\x\ the "Birds of the Colorado Valley " (p. 301) Dr. 

 Coues asserted that the Northern Water Thrush " breeds in the greater 

 part if not the whole of its North American range," and in the present 

 work this view is substantially reiterated in the following terms : " Being 

 a species of the widest distribution in North America, the Water Thrush 

 is found in all suitable situations in New England, where it is a summer 

 resident, and more or less abundant according to circumstances in no wav 

 connected with geographical or faunal areas." Waiving for the present 

 any discussion of the question at large, we will confine ourselves to a 

 consideration of the character of the bird's presence in New England. 

 Upon examining the records it appears that no identified nest has ever 

 been found south of the limits of the Canadian Fauna. In the "Catalogue 

 of the Birds of Springfield" Mr. Allen stated that "'apparently a few 

 breed here," but as he has reversed this opinion in his later " List of the 

 Birds of Massachusetts," the presumption is that there was some mistake 

 about the earlier observations. Mr. Merriam surmises that " possibly 

 a few occasionally remain and breed in Connecticut." All the other authors 

 (save Minot, whose testimony on questions of this kind is inadmissible) 

 agree in considering the Water Thrush as a spring and fall migrant in 

 the three southern New England States. Going by the records alone, 

 Dr. Coues will find it difficult to maintain his position, while if the un- 

 written testimony on the subject were produced we fancy that it would go 

 very strongly against his view of the case. Certainly there are no present 

 grounds for believing that the Northern Water Thrush breeds at all in 

 New England south of the Canadian Fauna. 



Collurio borealis. — The breeding of the Northern Shrike anywhere 

 south of the Fur Countries is at present so much a matter of uncertainty, 

 owing to the recently developed fact that the Loggerhead has frequently 

 come in where he did not belong and wilfully muddled the records, that 

 we cannot but think that Dr. Coues would have been wiser had he avoided 

 taking any positive stand in this much disputed question. The comparison 

 of its presence with that of the Black Snowbird, is manifestly inappro- 

 priate, while the prophecy that "it will doubtless be found to breed in 

 the highest parts of Massachusetts " can scarcely be warranted by any 

 of the known facts. 



Taken for all in all, however, "New England Bird Life" is remarkably 

 free from errors of every kind : we doubt if there is another outsider who 

 could have come among us and done so well, but it must not be over- 

 looked that Mr. Purdie helped " in collating and sifting the scattered 



