Recently published Ornithological Works. 187 



crest. Here the birds will lie, generally choosing one of 

 those groups of boulders already mentioned, and, especially 

 if they have been flushed previously, may often be put up 

 one or two at a time at very short range, hut it is necessary 

 to shoot quickly, as they are extremely clever at putting a 

 boulder between themselves and the gun. When much 

 pressed near the sea-coast, the birds will often take refuge 

 among rocks and stones at the very water's edge. 



The food at this time consists of the seeds of thistle-like 

 and other dry matured plants that grovi^ on the fallows and 

 stubbles, gleanings of corn, big black ants, green trefoil 

 leaves, grubbed up bulbs and roots, and other seeds. They 

 seem much troubled with ticks about the head. Five big 

 and a number of little ticks were found in one ear-cavity. 



The natives had a big shoot just before the Fleet arrived at 

 Lemnos, many guns taking part, and they were said to have 

 shot about three hundred birds, most, if not all, running. 

 There are plenty of birds, and a small party of guns may 

 easily average ten or more birds per head in a day^s shooting, 

 if they know how and where to go. 



VIII. — Notices of recent Ornithological Publications. 



1. ' The Auk.' 



[The Auk. A Quarterly Journal of Or]utholog3^ Vol. xxviii. Nos. 3, 4 

 (.July, October, 1911).] 



In both of these numbers are to be found articles on the 

 Passenger Pigeon, supplementary to that of October, 1910 

 (p. 428). '' Other early records" of the bird are given by 

 Mr. A. H. Wright for Canada, New England, New York, 

 Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia, and Mary- 

 land, as well as the Gulf States, those east of the 

 Mississippi, and those west of the same river. These 

 two papers are not only of great interest to all Orni- 

 thologists, but must be as nearly as possible exhaustive with 



