506 Hecently published Ornitholuyical Works. 



The species of the first section of the genus or siibgenus 

 Thalassogeron at present reach the number of four, and may 

 be distinguished according to the following key : — 



Culmen in adult bright yellow ; sides of the bill 

 black : 



a. Culminicorn rounded posteriorly. 

 a'. Lower edge of mandible yellaw. 



a." Smaller ; outer toe 117 mm. ; culmini- 

 corn reaching the feathers of the 



forehead T. cubninatus. 



I." Larger ; oviter toe 124 mm. ; culmini- 

 corn not reaching the feathers of the 



forehead T. desolatwnis. 



h'. Lower edge of mandible not yellow .... T. exijnius. 



b. Culminicorn pointed posteriorly ; lower edge 



of the mandible not yellow T. chlororhynchufi. 



XXX. — Notices of recent Ornithological Publications. 



Bryant on the Western Meadowlark. 



[A determination of the economic status of the Western Meadowlark 

 (Sturnella neglecta) in California, by Harold Child Bryant, Univ. Cal. 

 Publ. Zool., xi. 1914, pp. 377-510, pis. 21-24.] 



Mr. Bryant has been for some time engaged in solving 

 the question of the habits of the Western Meadowlark, and 

 as to whether its usefulness outtveighs its destructiveness, 

 and this paper appears to be an elaboration of a previous 

 one reviewed in the '^Ibis ' for 1912 (p. 688). 



A very large amount of work has been done and the 

 present results are based on the examination of over 2000 

 stomachs taken at different seasons of the year in different 

 parts of California, so that the conclusions should be based 

 on sound and ample evidence. 



The injury to crops which the Meadowlark is accused of, 

 consists of destroying sprouting grain (especially barley) by 

 boring down beside the sprout and eating the kernel. On 

 the other hand this small amount of damage^ which can be 



