364 



Bird - Lore 



and Worm-eating Warblers are common 

 and the Turkey Vulture "was frequently 

 seen during the season of 1919," while 

 among the more northern forms found 

 nesting or with young are the Black- 

 throated Blue and Nashville Warblers, and 

 the Canadian Warbler is believed to nest. 



The purpose for which this and other 

 similar papers on the natural resources of 

 Bear Mountain Park are prepared cannot 

 be too highly commended. We understand 

 that over 70,000 persons camped in this 

 park system during the past summer. Here 

 is material for a class in nature-study 

 which, properly developed, presents almost 

 limitless possibilities. 



Fortunately, the Park Commissioners, 

 by the publication of these guides and the 

 establishment of a local museum, have 

 evidently determined to offer campers not 

 only a home near to nature but an oppor- 

 tunity to learn something of their sur- 

 roundings. — F. M. C. 



The Ornithological Magazines 



The Auk. — In the October number of 

 The Auk 'Pattern Development in Teal,' 

 by G. M; Allen, takes the description of a 

 southern race of Blue-winged Teal as 

 occasion for a discussion of pattern forma- 

 tion. The surface of a bird's body may be 

 divided into several areas from whose in- 

 dividual centers the tendency to produce 

 pigment tends to become less and less as 

 the periphery of the particular area is 

 reached. White markings tend to appear 

 along the dividing-lines between adjacent 

 areas. Such is the white ring on the neck 

 of the drake Mallard and the white head- 

 marking which characterized the adult 

 male of the Southern Teal. 'Migration and 

 Physical Proportions' by C. K. Averill, 

 calls attention to the relation between 

 length of wing and tail in birds of great 

 powers of flight. The wing is not only long 

 but the tail short, especially in the median 

 line of the bird's body. Bill and feet also 

 tend to be reduced. Tabular arrangement 

 of measurements of various related War- 

 blers shows that the slight differences in 

 proportion are towards such flight effi- 



ciency of form, in those species that have 

 the longest migration routes. This paper 

 proves how matters of philosophic interest 

 may sometimes be brought out by statis- 

 tical consideration of purely descriptive 

 data. 



'Limicoline Voices,' by J. T. Nichols, is 

 an attempt to describe and explain the 

 varied call-notes of shore-birds. Species 

 with similar habits have notes correspond- 

 ing in significance, allied species' notes 

 corresponding in derivation which fre- 

 quently differ in significance. Which of its 

 repertoire of call-notes an individual will 

 use is related to what it is doing and what 

 is going on about it; its state of mind (as 

 alarm or confidence, etc.) being probably 

 reflected in subtle differences of tone. 



There are three faunal papers: 'Summer 

 Bird Records from Lake County, Minn.,' 

 by C. E. Johnson, lists 89 species. It will 

 give some idea of this country and its birds 

 to mention that the Red-tailed Hawk and 

 Great-horned Owl were found breeding 

 and that Olive-backed and Hermit are 

 the two Thrushes. 'In the Haunts of 

 Cairns' Warbler,' C. W. G. Eifrig, is a de- 

 lightful narrative dealing with ornithology 

 of the Maryland AUeghanies. Interesting 

 comparisons are drawn between conditions 

 here in the summer of 1918 and what they 

 had been a number of years previous, some 

 of the changes being directly traceable to 

 encroaching settlement. Edward Fleisher 

 gives an annotated list from the result of 

 intensive field observation on the coast of 

 southeastern North Carolina in middle 

 April. Ninety-seven species are listed, the 

 most interesting which he observed being 

 a single individual of the Roseate Spoon- 

 bill. The unexpected scarcity of those 

 arboreal transients that reach our more 

 northern latitudes in a wave as the trees 

 come into leaf, is additional evidence that 

 this wave of birds along the Atlantic coast 

 moves northward very rapidly. 



'General Notes' contain a great variety 

 of matter of unusual interest. The Louis- 

 iana Heron is recorded from Cape May, 

 N. J., by Stone. Frequent occurrence of 

 southern Herons to the north in recent 

 years is probably indicative of increasing 



