38o 



Recent Literature. [October 



notes on the 52 species of land birds abound in items of interest, much 

 more space is devoted to the remaining 40 species of water birds, the 

 account of which forms by far the most important part of the paper. 

 While want of space tbrbids an extended notice of this very interesting 

 paper, attention may be called to the notes on the Greater Yellow-leg {To- 

 taniis melanoleiic/is)., of the breeding of which on Anticosti, where it was 

 abundant, Mr. Brewster secured the 'strongest circumstantial evidence'; to 

 the notes on the Gannet (Sula dassana), the Cormorants, Gulls, Petrels, 

 Shearwaters, and the various species of the family Alcidse. A very inter- 

 esting account is given of the Kittiwake Gull (R/ssa tridactyla), of which 

 two young birds were taken when but three or four daj-s old and kept as 

 pets. They ate freely offish, but soon pined, and in two days one of them 

 died, it being impossible to induce them to drink. The survivor was 

 placed in a basin of salt water, hoping that a bath might prove beneficial. 

 To the surprise of all, he instantly began to drink, swallowing the sea- 

 water with evident satisfaction. After this the pet gave no trouble ; he 

 had his dish of sea-water constantly within reach, and throve finely, but 

 could never be induced to partake of fresh water. This seems to settle the 

 often-raised question as to how sea birds slake their thirst, at least so far 

 as the Kittiwake is concerned, which would have perished had it not been 

 furnished with sea-water. Very suggestive also are the remarks about 

 Wilson's Petrel {Ocea/iites oceaiiicus), the breeding of which seems still 

 to remain a mystery. While a common summer bird oft" our coast from 

 Virginia to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, its breeding grounds still remain to 

 be discovered. Mr. Brewster found on dissecting specimens shot at 

 various times between June 17 and July 25 no evidence that the species was 

 breeding. He therefore haisards the conjecture that "Wilson's Petrel 

 breeds in winter or early spring in tropical or subtropical regions, and 

 visits the coast of the northeastern United States only in the interim 

 between one breeding seasoji and the next" and gives his reasons at 

 length for this opinion. He also extends the same generalization to the 

 Shearwaters (^Puffinus major and P. ftiliginostis'), both of which occur oft' 

 our northern coast 2;^ summer, hut have never been found t'.eeding. In 

 this opinion he is confirmed by the experience of Capt. J. W. Collins, as 

 detailed in 'The Auk' (I, p. 237), and in the paper which forms the sub- 

 ject of the notice which next follows. As already intimated, the notes 

 on the Common Puffin and the Guillemots are extended and replete 

 with interest. In fact, few papers of so great importance relating to our 

 birds have recently appeared, the matter being not only fresh and origi- 

 nal, but attractively presented. — ^J. A. A. 



CoUins's Notes on the Sea Birds of the Fishing Banks.* — As is well- 

 known, various sea-birds have long been used by fishermen for fish bait, 



* Notes on the Habits and Methods of Capture of various species of Sea Birds that 

 occur on the Fishing Banks off the Eastern Coast of North America, and which are 

 used as bait for catching Codfish by New England Fishermen. By Capt. J. W. Collins . 

 Ann. Rep. of the Comm. of Fish and Fisheries for 1882, pp. 311-338, pi. i. (Separates 

 issued August, 1884.) 



