258 



Bird - Lore 



critical examination of the contents of 2,466 

 "well-filled stomachs" and prolonged study 

 of the bird in life, the authors of this paper 

 conclude that economically the Starling is 

 the superior of either the Flicker, Robin, 

 Catbird, Red-winged Blackbird, or Grackle, 

 and advises the enactment of laws for its 

 protection except when it is "actually doing 

 or threatening to inflict damage." — F. M. C. 



The Ornithological Magazines 



The Condor. — It is not often that a single 

 number of a journal reports the addition of 

 three new extralimital species to the list of 

 North American birds but such is the record 

 of the May number of The Condor. In 

 'New Bird Records for North America', 

 Mailliard and Hanna report a Japanese Swift 

 {Micropus pacificiis) taken on St. George 

 Island, Alaska, August i, 1920, and an Evers- 

 mann's Shrike {Lanius mollis) captured on 

 board the U. S. S. Saturn, 260 miles west of 

 Sitka, Alaska, September 20, 1920; white 

 Bent, in a paper on 'The Probable Status of 

 the Pacific Coast Skuas', finds four records of 

 the Chilian Skua (Catharada chilensis) from 

 Monterey, Calif., and three off the coasts of 

 Washington and Vancouver Island. 



Two other papers of special interest deal 

 with the nesting habits of western forms of 

 the Fox Sparrow. John W. Mailliard de- 

 scribes the nesting of the Yosemite Fox Spar- 

 row near Lake Tahoe, Calif., where fourteen 

 nests were observed in June and July, 1920. 

 Six of these were on the ground, three others 

 in buckthorn or ceanothus bushes, and five 

 in shrubs and trees less than 5 feet from the 

 ground. W. M. Pierce gives the results of 

 a trip to Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino 

 Mountains in 1919 where three nests of 

 Stephens' Fox Sparrow were found and a 

 visit to the vicinity of Mt. Baldy in the San 

 Gabriel Mountains in 1920 where five nests 

 with eggs were discovered either in or under 

 buckthorn bushes. 



Leopold publishes a useful summary of the 

 weights of 300 Ducks of 15 species killed in 

 the Rio Grande Valley, New Mexico; Dice, an 

 account of 'A Bird Census at Prescott, Walla 

 Walla Co., Wash.', in 1908; and Jewett 

 notes on 18 species of water- and shore-birds 

 of Netarts Bay, Oregon. The number, which 



is an unusually interesting one, closes with 

 the annual Directory of the Cooper Orni- 

 thological Club, containing the names of 754 

 members, or 99 more than last year. — ^T. S. P, 



Bird-Lores Wanted 

 L. E. Thomas, care of Bird-Lore, Har- 

 risburg. Pa., offers $3 for a copy of Bird- 

 Lore, No. I, Vol. Ill, February, 1900. 



Thos. L. McConnell, 151 Center Ave., 

 Emsworth, Pa., wishes to purchase No. i, 

 Vol. XVI, January-February, 1914. 



Book News 

 Dr. Clara Barrus, literary executor and 

 authoritative biographer of the late John 

 Burroughs, asks that all persons owning 

 in 'cresting letters from Mr. Burroughs 

 communicate with her at Woodchuck Lodge, 

 Roxbury, N. Y. All letters sent will be 

 promptly copied, or extracted from, and re- 

 turned to the owners. 



The Bulletin of the West Chester (Pa.) 

 Bird Club for the years 1920-21 contains 

 much of interest to local bird students and 

 reflects the spirit of good fellowship which 

 animates this organization. The Club has 

 experienced a severe loss in the removal of 

 its President, Dr. E. C. Ehinger, to his boy- 

 hood home in Iowa. 



Farmers' Bulletin No. 1235 of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture is a com- 

 plete compendium of the game laws of the 

 United States for 1921. Copies of this pub- 

 lication may be obtained through all state 

 game commissions or from the Superin- 

 tendent of Documents at Washington, D. C. 



The Audubon Society of New Hampshire 

 has decided to issue a quarterly 'Bulletin' of 

 which the first number, dated 'July-August- 

 September' [1921?] has appeared. Reports 

 from local bird clubs and contributions from 

 members show that this publication has a 

 field to fill and we trust that it will receive 

 the support it deserves. The subscription 

 price, including annual membership in the 

 Society, (address, the Secretary, Strafford, 

 N. H.) is only $1 a year. 



