Book News and Reviews 



147 



natural storage capacity of their throats in 

 the transportation of food to their young. 



Dr. L. B. Bishop, writing on the ' Status 

 of Helminthophila leucobronchiaiis and H. 

 lawrencei ' furnishes strong evidence in 

 favor of the view that Lawrence's Warbler 

 is a hybrid between the Golden-winged and 

 Blue-winged, while Brewster's is merely a 

 leucochroic phase of the Blue-winged, still, 

 if this be so, how is it that the song of 

 Brewster's Warbler is said to be sometimes 

 indistinguishable from that of the Golden- 

 wing ? W. W. Cook in 'Routes of Bird 

 Migration' indicates that a large number of 

 species fly directly across the Gulf of Mex- 

 ico, a much smaller percentage following 

 around its shores, contrary to what has 

 generally been supposed ; Dr. J. Dwight, 

 Jr., discusses 'Plumage Wear in its Rela- 

 tion to Pallid Subspecies ' ; and R. 

 Deane presents a letter from Swainson to 

 Audubon. 



Two local lists are in evidence, one by 

 T. H. Montgomery, Jr., on the birds of 

 Brewster county, Texas, and one by N. A. 

 Wood and E. H. Frothingham on those of 

 the Ausable valley in Michigan. Interest 

 centers in the latter locality because of its 

 being the long-sought breeding ground of 

 Kirtland's Warbler. The annotated part of 

 the Michigan list is as dry as a table of 

 logarithms, and the reader is left to flounder 

 through a mass of details as best he may. 

 A Sparrow of California is still without a 

 breeding range, according to J. Grinnell, 

 who writes under the title ' Where Does the 

 Large-billed Sparrow Spend the Summer? ' 

 but the number of like mysteries is reduced 

 nearly to the vanishing point. So, too, are 

 a number of species of birds, and E. H. 

 Forbush's ' Decrease of Certain Birds in 

 New England ' is a melancholy commentary, 

 from the birds' standpoint, on the benefits 

 of civilization! — J. D., Jr. 



The Warbler. — ' The Warbler ' for the 

 ' first quarter ' of 1905 appears as the first 

 number of a new series greatly improved in 

 character and contents. 



The present number contains colored 

 illustrations of the eggs of Kirtland's and 

 Olive Warblers, the first with descriptive 

 text by Edward Arnold ; a note on a special 



copy of the elephant folio edition of Audu- 

 bon, lately acquired by the editor of ' The 

 Warbler'; 'Notes on Some Adirondack 

 Birds,' by George Chahoon, with a half- 

 tone illustration of a Loon, whether from 

 life or not is not stated ; ' Feeding a Baby 

 Hummingbird,' by Ira Lord McDavitt ; 

 ' The Alameda Song Sparrow,' by H. R. 

 Taylor, with an attractive illustration of the 

 haunts of this bird; ' The Starling,' by R. 

 W. Shufeldt, who has a great deal to say 

 about Starlings abroad and very little to say 

 about their history in this country; 'A 

 Mammoth Hawk's Nest,' by W. A. Hart, 

 and ' Birds Found Breeding Within the 

 Limits of the City of New York,' by John 

 Lewis Childs. 



The list of New York City breeding bird* 

 should closely approach a hundred species, 

 we imagine, and if all are annotated a» 

 fully as those grown in the first instalment 

 of this paper we shall have quite a contribu- 

 tion to the study of urban bird life. Surely 

 we do not understand Mr. Childs aright 

 when we read, "I know of but one place in 

 Greater New York where the Wood Thrush 

 breeds."— F. M. C. 



Wilson Bulletin. — 'Wilson Bulletin ' 

 for December, 1904, completing Volume 

 XVI of this excellent publication, contains 

 ' Kearsarge Birds,' by E. H. and H. E. 

 Porter ; a July to September list of 69 

 species observed at Kearsarge, N. H.; 'An 

 October All-Day at Blaine, Washington,* 

 by William Leon Dawson; 'A Summer 

 Porch List ' of 49 species recorded near 

 Chicago by Esther Craigmile; 'Some Ob- 

 servations on a Captive Red -tailed Hawk,' 

 by W. F. Henninger; A call for a New 

 Year Bird Census by the Editor, which we 

 trust met with hearty response ; 'Brewster's. 

 Warbler in Pennsylvania,' by Frank L. 

 Burns and in Ohio by W. F. Henninger, 

 editorial and other notes, reviews, and the 

 announcement of election returns, from which 

 we observe that the officers of the Wilson 

 Ornithological Club for 1905 are: President, 

 Lynds Jones; vice-president, W. L. Daw- 

 son; secretary, John W. Daniel, Jr.; 

 treasurer, Frank L. Burns; executive 

 council, H. C. Oberholser, John H. Sage 

 and A. W. Blain, Jr.— F. M. C. 



