KfWW5 



A Synoptical List of the Accipitres {Diurnal Birds of Prey). By H. 

 Kirke Swann, F.Z.S. Parts I. and II. (Wheldon & Co.) 4s. per 

 Part. 



This List, which is clearly and well arranged, and contains much 

 information in a compressed form, should prove of much use to ornitho- 

 logists. The arrangement is systematic and much in the form of 

 Sharpe's well-known Hand-LisL with the addition of a precis of the 

 main characters of each genus and each species and subspecies. As 

 in Sharpe's Hand-List, the general distribution of each form is given 

 in a separate column. Part I. treats of the Vultures, Harriers, Gos- 

 hawks and Sparrow-Hawks. In this part there is not much of special 

 interest if we confine ourselves to the British List, but we note that 

 Mr. Swann omits England as a place of accidental occurrence for the 

 Egyptian Vulture, although he includes it under the Griffon. We 

 may also note that he separates Goshawks generically from Sparrow- 

 Hawks and that he treats A. atricapillus (recently added to the British 

 List) as a separate species and not as a subspecies of ±he typical 

 Goshawk. In Part II. we have Buzzards and Eagles. In a footnote 

 under Buteo biiteo zimmermannce , the eastern European rufous form 

 of the Buzzard, we find the interesting statement that of eight rufous 

 British-taken specimens in the British Museum six appear to belong to 

 this race and two to Buteo rufiventer {^ desertorum), the south-eastern 

 Europe and western Asian form, which Mr. Swann treats as a distinct 

 species. If, therefore, Mr, Swann's conclusions were accepted, both 

 these birds would have to be added to the long list of casual visitors 

 to the British Isles. 



Some Further Investigations on the Food of Wild Birds. Bv Walter 

 E. Collinge, D.Sc. 



This is a valuable paper contributed by Dr. Collinge to the Journal 

 of the Board of Agriculture (Vol. XXV., No. 12, pp. 1444-1462, March, 

 1919) and contains details, accompanied by excellent diagrammatic 

 representations of the percentages of food, of the Jackdaw, Starling, 

 Chaffinch, Yellow Bunting, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Song-Thrush and 

 Fieldfare. In the first number of The Journal of the Wild Bird Investiga- 

 tion Society, which has just reached us, we find a paper on similar lines, 

 but based on a small amount of material, on the food of the Barn-Owl . 



Life Histories of North American Diving Birds (Order Pygopodes). By 

 Arthur Cleveland Bent. Smithsonian Institution Bulletin 107. 



In 1 910 Mr. Bent undertook to continue the work so ably begun by the 

 late Major C. E. Bendire on the life-histories of North American birds, 

 and this volume is the beginning of his task. Whereas the previous 

 volumes by Bendire were in quarto and illustrated by coloured plates of 

 eggs, this is in octavo and has numerous excellent photographic plates 

 of the birds, their nests and habitats. The scope of the original work 

 is enlarged and the various items of information are arranged under 

 headings. There is much in this excellent work to interest British 

 ornithologists, since a number of the species of Grebes, Divers and Auks 

 are the same as our own. 



