860 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
birds” are to be met with in Canada, will find a list of them— 
twenty in number—on page 6; and the wildfowler may see at a. 
glance, on page 3, what ducks, geese, and swans are likely to 
reward his search along the coast or on the inland waters. 
Thirty-five different kinds of Ducks, a dozen different Geese, and 
two species of Wild Swan, ought to tempt many an English 
sportsman to try Canadian waters. 
Report on Bird Migration in the Mississippi Valley in the years 
1884 and 1885. By W. W. Cooxs. Edited and revised 
by Dr. C. Hart Merriam. 8vo, pp. 313, and Map. 
Washington, 1888. 
Tur present Report, which has been prepared by Prof. W. W. 
Cooke, with the assistance of Mr. Otto Widmann and Prof, 
D. E, Lantz, is the first fruit of the co-operative labours of the 
Division of Economic Ornithology of the Department of Agri- 
culture and the Committee on Bird Migration of the American 
Ornithologists’ Union. It consists of two parts: (1) an intro- 
ductory portion, treating of the history and methods of the work, 
together with a general study of the subject of Bird Migration, 
including the influence of the weather upon the movements of 
birds, the progression of bird-waves and causes affecting the 
same, the influence of topography and altitude upon migration, 
and the rates of flight in the various species ; and (2) a systematic 
portion, in which the five hundred and sixty species of birds 
known to occur in the Mississippi Valley are treated serially, the 
movements of each during the seasons of 1884 and 1885 being 
traced with as much exactness as the records furnished by the 
one hundred and seventy observers in the district permit. 
The chapters entitled “ The Relation of Migration to Baro- 
metric Pressure and Temperature,” and “ A Study of the Bird- 
waves which passed up the Mississippi Valley during the Spring 
of 1884,” are worthy of the most careful perusal; and the articles 
on the Kingbird and Purple Martin, in the systematic portion of 
the Report, are particularly instructive. Indeed we feel no hesi- 
tation in expressing the belief that the present Report is one of 
the most valuable contributions ever made to the subject of 
Bird Migration. 


