284 Notes and News. [July 
The English version seems not to be a strict translation of the German, 
but rather a paraphrase, with some omissions. It is to be hoped that, 
through haste of preparation, the English text will not be suffered to fall 
below the standard of the German edition. 
The biographies are based primarily on the author’s own field experi- 
ences, and are written in a graphic yet simple and pleasing style. The 
best authorities, however, are freely quoted. The technical matter is 
brief, and printed in smaller type at the end of the biographies. The 
colored illustrations are effective and highly creditable, considering the 
low price of the work, while the paper and typography are excellent. We 
trust the work will meet with the success it so well deserves. 
THE REPORT of the Ornithologist and Mammalogist of the U. S. 
Department of Agriculture, Dr. C. Hart Merriam, for the year 1888, con- 
tains an interesting account of the scope and character of the work of the 
Division of Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy, as conducted during 
the last year. The investigations ofa strictly economic character relate 
especially to the food of Hawks and Owls, Crows, Blackbirds, the Bobo- 
link, the Mink, and the Pocket Gophers and Ground Squirrels of the 
West, respecting each of which subjects much material has been gathered 
and partially elaborated, a special ‘Bulletin’ on the food of Hawks and 
Owls by Dr. A. K. Fisher, being nearly ready for the press, while the 
present report contains papers on the Mink, by Dr. Merriam, on the food 
of Crows, by Prof. Walter B. Barrows, and on the food of the Sparrow 
Hawk and Short-eared Owl, by Dr. Fisher. Professor Barrows also has 
a paper on the Rose-breasted Grosbeak as an enemy of the potato-bug. 
Dr. Merriam has an interesting report on the introduction of several 
species of Asiatic Pheasants into Vancouver Island and at various points 
in Oregon and Washington. The Mongolian or Ring Pheasant(Phasianus 
torquatus) seems to have multiplied rapidly, and fears are already enter- 
tained that it may eventually prove a pest, at least to farmers. 
The work of the Division has already outgrown the appropriations 
made for carrying it on, and is much retarded through lack of a larger 
force of assistants for tabulating and elaborating the returns received in 
answer to the thousands of schedules of inquiry sent out semi-annually to 
observers in all parts of the country. The Chief of the Division sets forth 
very forcibly the importance of a knowledge of the geographical distri- 
bution of species, and it is to be hoped that our Congressmen will show 
their appreciation of this important subject in larger appropriations for 
carrying on the work. 
The report indicates excellent progress in the several lines of special 
work, which are thoroughly systematized and energetically prosecuted. 
AN AUDUBON ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB has been organized in Chicago, 
with Mr. J. M. Howard as President. At present there are seven active 
members. 
