334 Recent Literature. ae 
Lot.’ Unfortunately the locality at which these notes were made is in 
some instances given in only a general way, while in others it is wholly 
omitted. 
The two concluding chapters are written from the ‘Bird-Room’ and 
give detailed studies of the Clarin (ALycadestes unicolor, not M. obscurus;, 
the latter being known as the Jilguero) and Orchard Oriole in confine- 
ment. 
It is difficult to overestimate the value of books of this class. They 
reach an audience to whom the ordinary ‘bird-book’ is unknown and we 
feel assured that the present greatly increased desire for information 
about our birds is largely due to the influence of just such books as Mrs. 
Miller’s. —F. M. C. 
The Sharp-tailed Sparrows of Maine.!—Mr. Norton records the 
breeding of Ammodramus caudacutus subvirgatus in ‘fair’ numbers at 
Small Point, Sagadahoc County, the first time this race has been 
discovered nesting in the State. In discussing the relationship of our 
three forms of Sharp-tailed Finches it is very pertinently ‘suggested that 
as typical Ammodramus caudacutus is known to breed at Scarboro’, only 
some thirty miles west of Small Point, it is quite probable that swbvzr_ 
gatus and its western representative zelsonz are specifically distinct from 
caudacutus and should therefore stand as Ammodramus nelsoni and 
Ammodramus nelsoni subvirgatus. —F. M. C. 
The Story of the Farallones.? — In an attractive little booklet of thirty- 
two pages Mr. Barlow gives an interesting sketch of the Farallones and 
their bird-life. Numerous half-tone reproductions of photographs afford 
an excellent idea of the topography of the islands, the dangers of ‘ egging,’ 
and the nests and numbers of certain of the sea-birds that have made 
these barren rocks famous. —F. M. C. 
Bird-Nesting with a Camera.?—Parts III and IV of this work 
appeared respectively in April and May, the latter part concluding the 
first volume of a book which will long hold first place among those 
1The Sharp-tailed Sparrows of Maine with Remarks on their Distribution 
and Relationship. By Arthur H. Norton. Proc. Portland Soc. Nat. Hist., II, 
1897, pp. 97-102. 
2The Story of the Farallones. Text by C. Barlow. Arranged and Pub- 
lished by H. R. Taylor, Editor of the Nidologist. Alameda, California, 1897, 
oblong 16mo, unpaged, numerous half-tone illustrations. Price 50 cents. 
3 Among British Birds in their Nesting Haunts. Illustrated by the Camera. 
By Oswin A. J. Lee. Parts III and IV, Edinburgh, David Douglas. Folio, 
Part III, pp. 79-120, pll. X; Part IV, pp. 121-159, pll. X. 
