Book Notes and Reviews 



131 



diminutive a bird could sing about three 

 notes in six flats ! 



William Brewster separates the Black 

 Rails of California under the name Porzana 

 jamarcensis coturniculus, and, in another 

 article, corrects the supposed records of the 

 Cinnamon Teal in Florida and South 

 Carolina. 



Much might be said in favor of A. H. 

 Felger's card system of note-keeping at 

 page 200, but every system has its limita- 

 tions, and the distinctness of the individual 

 pen-pictures in our journals is lost by the 

 use of any mechanical method, while the 

 hopelessly unwieldy size to which card 

 systems grow is another serious drawback. 

 Poets and geniuses are not tied to card- 

 catalogues, and can we think of White or 

 Audubon or Burroughs or a dozen others 

 with pockets full of ruled cards? 



Changes in the names of North American 

 birds are discussed in a paper by W. Stone. 

 When a cast-iron code of rules for fixing 

 scientific names is invented, stability may 

 result, and meanwhile current usage is 

 fixing vernacular ones to the confusion of 

 those who ought to furnish handles that don't 

 pull off.— J. D., Jr. 



The Condor. — In the March number of 

 'The Condor' Finley continues his series 

 of life-histories qf western birds, illustrated 

 with photographs taken by Bohlman. 

 Among the Pelicans' is an interesting, 

 account of a breeding colony of the birds in 

 southern Oregon, and the eight half-tones 

 show clearly some of the habits of the old 

 and young. The 'Migration and Nesting 

 of the Sage Thrasher,' by Gilman, recounts 

 the experiences of the author with this com- 

 paratively little- known bird at Palm Springs, 

 Cal., and in southwestern Colorado. 'An 

 Experience with the South American Con- 

 dor,' by Samuel Adams, describing the 

 finding of a nest and the collecting of the 

 old birds and young near the mouth of the 

 Rio Gallegos in Patagonia, is an article 

 which should be read in connection with 

 Finley's 'Life History of the California 

 Condor. ' * It is interesting to note the simi- 

 larity in the nesting habits of the two birds 



and also to learn that the Condor, instead 

 of being confined to the Andes, as usually 

 supposed, is found on the pampas and breeds 

 in the barrancas or cliffs along the coast of 

 southern Patagonia. 



In 'Nesting Ways of the Western Gnat- 

 catcher,' Miss Harriet W. Myers describes 

 a nest found in the Little Santa Anita 

 Cafion. Los Angeles county, California, 

 and the manner in which the young Gnat- 

 catchers are fed by their parents. An excel- 

 lent piece of work on geographic distribution 

 has been done by the editor, Joseph Grin- 

 nell, in a paper on 'The California Distribu- 

 tion of the Road-runner ( Geococcyx califor- 

 nianus). All the authentic definite records 

 of the occurrence of the bird in the state 

 have been collected and plotted on a map, 

 which is reproduced to illustrate the article. 

 The distribution of the bird "seems to fol- 

 low very closely the limits of the Upper 

 and Lower Sonoran zones," and in the 

 interior extends from Igo, Shasta County, 

 to the Mexican boundary. ' Stray Notes 

 from the Flathead Woods' consists of brief 

 notes on five species of birds made by Sill- 

 oway in June, 1906. In discussing 'The 

 New Check-list' now being prepared by 

 the A. O. U., Taverner suggests that the 

 names of subspecies be printed in smaller 

 type than those of species, and that the 

 latter be given a distinctive English name. 

 Some such plan as this would go far toward 

 simplifying the 'Check-List' for readers who 

 are now confused by the number of subspe- 

 cies in such groups as the Horned Larks 

 and Song Sparrows. Under the title 'A 

 Forgotten Reference to the Natural History 

 of California,' Walter K. Fisher summar- 

 izes the notes on birds in T. J. Farnum's 

 'Life, Adventures and Travels in Cali- 

 fornia,' the second edition of which appeared 

 in 1852.— T. S. P. 



Book News 



The Outing Publishing Company an- 

 nounce the publication of 'The Passenger 

 Pigeon,' by W. B. Mershon, illustrated by 

 colored plates by Fuertes and Allan 

 Brooks. 



*'The Condor,' VIII. pp. 135-142, 1906. 



