86 



Bird - Lore 



Canada, and other bulletins in connection 

 with the enforcement of the law. 



The publications of the Survey during 

 the year include one 'North American 

 Fauna,' two 'Bulletins,' four 'Grosbeak' 

 articles, two "Farmers' Bulletins,' eight 

 circulars, the Report of the Acting Chief 

 for 1906, and nine reprints of former 

 publications. This is a record entitling 

 the Survey to the thanks of every one 

 interested theoretically or practically in 

 the increasingly complicated economic 

 relations of our birds and mammals. — 

 F. M. C. 



Our Bird Comrades. By Leander S. 

 Keyser. Rand, McNally & Company. 

 i2mo. 197 pages, 16 colored plates. 



Mr. Keyser here brings together in a 

 well-printed volume a number of the 

 studies from nature for which he is so well 

 known. The character of these essays is 

 indicated by the following titles: 'Begin- 

 ning the Study,' 'Making New Friends,' 

 'Wildwood Minstrels,' 'Chickadee Ways,' 

 'An Alpine Rosy Finch,' 'A Bird's Educa- 

 tion,' 'Bird Flight,' 'A Bird's Foot.' 



Mr. Keyser bases his writings on origi- 

 nal observation, and they thus have 

 an ornithological as well as a popular 

 value. 



The colored plates from mounted birds 

 are far from satisfactory. — F. M. C. 



The Ornithological Magazines 



The Auk. — The pages of the January 

 number are monopolized by local lists and 

 migration data of more or less general in- 

 terest. Several contributors lay emphasis 

 on the unusual coldness and backward- 

 ness of the spring migration season of 

 1907, together with the resultant destruc- 

 tion of bird life. The Rev. G. Eifrig 

 furnishes observations made at Ottawa, 

 Canada, Mr. N. A. Wood records the 

 unseasonable conditions that prevailed, 

 even in June, at Ann Arbor, Michigan, 

 and Mr. L. H. Porter reports a number of 

 species nesting about two weeks later 

 than usual at Stanford, Conn. In contrast 

 is the extremely early autumn nesting of 



the Barn Owl. Mr. A. T. Wayne recording 

 a nest found in South Carolina in Sep- 

 tember. 



Mr. A. C. Bent's 'Summer Birds of 

 southwestern Saskatchewan' and Mr. E. 

 S. Cameron's 'Birds of Custer and Daw- 

 son Counties, Montana,' are concluded 

 in the present issue. There is also a local 

 list by F. H. Allen of 'Summer Birds of 

 the Green Mountain Region of southern 

 Vermont,' and an important contribution 

 by Mr. E. T. Seton, entitled 'Bird Records 

 from Great Slave Lake region.' Con- 

 sidering the interest that attaches to the 

 latter little-known region, it is a matter 

 of regret that we find neither an introduc- 

 tion nor even an itinerary of what was evi- 

 dently a very interesting trip. Among 

 other things, Mr. Seton found the first 

 authentic nest of Harris's Sparrow {Zono- 

 trichia guerilla) that has been secured. 

 In passing, we would say that abbrevia- 

 tions such as we find in Mr. Allen's list 

 should be avoided. It is bad enough to 

 be obliged to interpret with a key aster- 

 isks and other marks that have a different 

 meaning in every local list one refers to, 

 but to read that a species is 'common at 

 L.; less so at W. B.' makes one wonder 

 if the price of ink has gone up. 



Mr. S. Buturlin, writing of the 'Red- 

 spotted Bluethroat of Alaska,' considers 

 it identical with the Siberian form which 

 bears the name Cyanecula suecica robusta, 

 and Dr. J. A. Allen, in discussing 'The 

 Generic names Mycteria and Tantalus, 

 decides that our Wood Ibis should be 

 known as Mycteria americana. 



Dr. C. W. Townsend, in writing 'On 

 the Status of Brewster's Warbler (Hel- 

 minthopila leucobronchialis), and Mr. J. 

 T. Nichols, in discussing 'Lawrence's and 

 Brewster's Warblers and Mendelian In- 

 heritance,' revive an old problem without 

 adducing new facts, and leave it, except 

 in theory, just where it was twenty years 

 or more ago. 



Mr. J. H. Sage's account of the twenty- 

 fifth meeting of the American Orni- 

 thologists' Union is instructive, and the 

 reviews and notes that close the magazine 

 are numerous and varied. — J. D., Jr. 



