Book News and Reviews 



69 



The Ornithological Magazines 



The Auk. — The January 'Auk ' has for 

 a frontispiece a fine photogravure, taken of 

 a Herring Gull on its nest. A price has 

 been set upon the heads (and other parts) 

 of these birds by milliners, so that they and 

 their allies need rigid protection to save 

 them from extermination. How much has 

 been afforded them in their breeding colo- 

 nies through the Thayer fund is told in 

 Mr. Dutcher's report, which occupies many 

 pages with this and other bird protection 

 work. Mr. Stone also contributes a report. 



Mr. Bent continues his paper on the 

 ' Nesting Habits of the Anatidae of North 

 Dakota,' with some further illustrations. 

 Two annotated lists appear, one on ' Sum- 

 mer Birds of the Great Dismal Swamp,' 

 by John W. Daniel, Jr., and another on 

 ' Birds of the Northeastern Coast of Labra- 

 dor,' by Henry W. Bigelow. A desirable 

 item is omitted in the latter list; viz., the 

 actual time spent in Labrador by the 

 Brown-Harvard Expedition of 1900. Jas. 

 H. Hill tells pleasantly of 'The White- 

 winged Crossbill in Captivity,' captured in 

 Connecticut. Wm. H. Kobbe writes on 

 ' The Status of Certain Supposed Species of 

 the Genus Larus,' maintaining that L. 

 'vegce is identical with L. argentatus. 

 There is also a brief account of the Nine- 

 teenth Congress of the A. O. U., held in 

 New York, and those interested in new 

 forms of birds will find several described by 

 R. Ridgway and E. A. Mearns. The 

 latter also describes a hybrid between the 

 Barn and Cliff Swallows, which makes a 

 second specimen of this kind on record. 



General Notes and Reviews are too exten- 

 sive to be entered into, although the record- 

 ing of no less than six Cory's Bitterns at 

 Toronto, by J. H. Fleming and the re- 

 view of R. Ridgway's ' Birds of North and 

 Middle America ' seem of particular inter- 

 est. The ' Solution of the Ornithological 

 Mystery ' of Mr. Brewster is by no means 

 conclusive. — J. D. Jr. 



Book News 

 The pronounced success of ' Country Life 

 in America ' must be gratifying alike to 

 lovers of the country as well as those who 



delight in beautiful typography. The il- 

 lustrations are not only unusually artistic 

 but strikingly illustrative and, so far as the 

 straight half-tone process at present permits, 

 they are evidently reproduced with justice 

 to the originals. The March number, the 

 fifth thus far issued, is especially attractive 

 and seasonable. Under the head of 'The 

 Coming of Spring ' a calendar of ' Work,' 

 'Recreation,' and 'Nature Study' for the 

 month is given. While in the main excel- 

 lent, the author shows the danger of trying 

 to cover too wide a field by advocating as a 

 "novel sport" the killing of Hawks! After 

 virtually admitting the economic value of 

 the birds by saying that at this season they 

 "congregate on the meadows where food is 

 plentiful" (he does not add that the "food" 

 consists of meadow mice) he proceeds to 

 give suggestions for the best way to shoot 

 these "feathered sharks," and this, be it 

 further noted, in the mating and breeding 

 season ! One wonders that so obvious a 

 slip escaped the editorial eye. 



In ' The Flight of the Osprey ' Alfred J. 

 Meyer shows a number of very interesting 

 photographs of Ospreys on the wing. 



Houghton, Mifflin & Co., will publish 

 shortly 'A Handbook of Birds of the Western 

 United States,' by Mrs. Florence Merriam 

 Bailey. This greatly needed book will in- 

 clude the birds west of the 100th meridian 

 and contain over 500 illustrations, the prin- 

 cipal ones by Louis Agassiz Fuertes. 



The Biological Survey, of the U. S. 

 Dept. of Agriculture has recently issued a 

 revised edition of its Bulletin No. 12, 'Legis- 

 lation for the Protection of Birds other than 

 Game Birds,' by Dr. T. S. Palmer. This 

 admirable and useful publication not only 

 presents the federal and state laws relating 

 to non-game birds, but treats of such allied 

 matters as ' Birds in Captivity,' ' Birds used 

 for Millinery Purposes,' ' Bird Study in the 

 Schools,' Bird and Arbor Day Laws,' etc., 

 and is therefore indispensable to every one 

 actively interested in bird protection. 



'Our Bird Friends, ' a game of bird cards, 

 seems unusually well designed to arouse in 

 children an intelligent interest in birds. 



