188 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. I. No. 7. 



Ord, Baird and Trumbull may be numbered 

 among the contributors to its ornithological 

 literature. Aside from general works and 

 special or local papers, three publications 

 have been devoted to the birds of this 

 particular area : (1) Barton's i^ra(/??ienfe of 

 the Natural History of Pennsylvania ; ( 2 ) 

 Trumbull's Birds of East Pennsylvania and 

 New Jersey ; (3) Witmer Stone's Birds of 

 Eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Bar- 

 ton's ' Fragments' is a rare folio printed in 

 Philadelphia in 1799, and is something of a 

 curiosity. Trumbull's list is a carefully 

 annotated and atti-actively illustrated cata- 

 logue published in Glasgow, Scotland, in 

 1869, and reprinted in America. Stone's 

 ' Bii-ds of Eastern Pennsylvania and New 

 Jersey' is a large octavo published by the 

 Delaware Valley Ornithological Club in De- 

 cember, 1894. It is a thoroughly modern 

 work, abounding in exact data and authori- 

 ties, and based largely on the field observa- 

 tions of Mr. Stone and other members of the 

 Delaware Valley Ornithological Club — evi- 

 dently a very active organization. It is 

 divided into two principal parts : An essay 

 on the Greographic Distribution and Migra- 

 tion of Birds ; and a Systematic Annotated 

 List of the Birds of the region. To these 

 are added a bibliography and an index. 

 The chapter on Geographic Distribution is 

 subdivided into general and local parts. 

 The general part is weak, and in the refer- 

 ences cited some of the more recent and im- 

 portant papers are overlooked. The local 

 part is excellent and gives ample evidence 

 of Mr. Stone's familiarity with the some- 

 what diverse physical and faunal character- 

 istics of the region. Some idea of its scope 

 may be had from the headings : The Mari- 

 time Marshes, the Pine Barrens, the Cedar 

 Swamps, the Lowlands of Pennsylvania, the 

 Delaware Valley, the Susquehanna Valley, 

 the Interior Uplands, the Appalachian Dis- 

 trict, the Alleghany and Pocono Mountains. 

 This part is accompanied by a curious col- 



ored map which might be termed a physico- 

 faimal map of Eastern Pennsj'lvania and 

 New Jersey. 



The Canadian or Boreal element in the 

 fauna is restricted in Pennsylvania to 

 " the tops of the highest mountains and 

 the elevated plateau region, where the deep 

 hemlock forests, with their cool brooks and 

 dense shade, still remain undisturbed. The 

 passage from the Alleghanian to the Cana- 

 dian zone is here, as a rule, remarkably 

 distinct, as the more northern birds keep 

 strictly to the virgin forest. ' ' The settlement 

 of the region has proved particularlj' des- 

 tructive to the Canadian species. It is 

 melancholy to be told that " where the 

 forest has been removed the Canadian spe- 

 cies for the most part disappear, and judging 

 fi'om present indications, it would seem 

 that this element in our fauna, which once 

 undoubtedly extended over a much greater 

 area than at present, may soon almost en- 

 tirely disappear, as the lumbermen j'ear by 

 year encroach upon the forest tracts." 



The chapter on Bird Migration is full of 

 interest and replete with new information 

 respecting the region studied. 



In the Sj^stematic part no less than 352 

 species are recorded on good CAddence as 

 occurring within the area embraced by the 

 catalogue. A new departure is here inti-o- 

 duced which more pretentious works would 

 do well to follow. Instead of the much 

 abused term ' Habitat ' the ' Breeding range ' 

 and ' Winter range ' of each species are 

 given. Mr. Stone is to be congratulated 

 upon the distinction of being first to inaugu- 

 rate this reform, which is bound to come into 

 general use in the near future. Another im- 

 provement that might be made in all lists of 

 birds is the transfer of accidental stragglers 

 from the body of the work to a special list at 

 the end. Since such extra-limital species 

 form no part of the proper fauna of a region, 

 why should they be included among the reg- 

 ular inhabitants? C. Haet Merriam. 



