iSoofe jBtetos; anti 3^etoteto0 



The Birds of Iowa. By Rudolph 

 Martin Anderson, Proc. Davenport 

 Academy Sciences, xi, 1906, pp. 125- 

 388. 



Familiarity with the literature of his sub- 

 ject, access to pertinent collections, the coop- 

 eration of other workers, and an extended 

 personal field experience, combined with an 

 evident grasp of his thesis, have enabled Mr. 

 Anderson to produce an admirable treatise on 

 Iowa birds. 



An introduction of twenty pages contains 

 sections entitled 'Scope,' 'Historical Work,' 

 'Relative Abundance,' 'Breeding,' 'Food,' 

 'Migration,' 'Range in Iowa,' Topography 

 of Iowa,' 'Climate of Iowa,' 'Faunal Areas,' 

 and 'Contributors.' We wish that there had 

 also been included here some discussion of 

 the changes which have occurred in the char- 

 acter of the Iowa ornis incident to the tillage 

 of prairies, drainage of sloughs, planting of 

 trees and increase of population. In this con- 

 nection, we may also suggest the desira- 

 bility of placing in a separate list those 

 species which have become extinct in Iowa. 



Mr. Anderson is commendably conserva- 

 tive in admitting birds to his list of 353 

 species; capture within the state and satis- 

 factory identification being the entrance con- 

 ditions imposed. 



The annotations under each species relate, 

 in the main, to the bird's distribution, relative 

 abundance and season of occurrence, liberal 

 quotations from the earlier writers affording 

 material for comparison with the notes of 

 recent observers. There are also remarks on 

 habits which, in the case of breeding species, 

 often include much interesting biographical 

 matter. — F. M. C. 



Cassinia. Proc. of the Delaware Valley 

 Ornithological Club, x, 1906. 8vo. 76 

 pages, 2 plates. 



There are evidently certain conditions in 

 and about Philadelphia favorable to the 

 development of ornithological endeavor. 

 Whether Alexander Wilson was stimulated 

 by them, or whether the 'Father of American 

 Ornithology' created and willed them to his 



scientific descendants in the valley of the Del- 

 aware, we do not pretend to say, but each 

 year when Cassinia comes to us as a material 

 evidence of the continued activity in organ- 

 ized bird study about Philadelphia, we won- 

 der why such a well-directed interest cannot 

 be aroused and maintained elsewhere. 



Fifty observers, for example, sent in sched- 

 ules covering the 1906 migration, and the edi- 

 tor, Mr. Stone, remarks of the work thus far 

 done by the "migration corps" of the D. V. 

 O. C: "It is doubtful if such an accurate and 

 comprehensive series of data has ever been 

 collected over such a limited area anywhere 

 in America . . ." 



In addition to a report on the results of this 

 cooperative migration work, and an abstract 

 of the proceedings at the meetings of . the 

 Club during 1906, this volume contains papers 

 on 'William Bartram,' by George Spencer 

 Morris (with two plates); 'A Study of the 

 Solitary Vireo,' by Cornelius Weygandt; 

 'Summer Birds of Western Pike County, 

 Pennsylvania,' by Richard C. Harlow; 'The 

 Concordville Robin and Grackle Roost,' by 

 Samuel C. Palmer; 'A June Trip to Pocono 

 Lake, Monroe County, Pennsylvania,' by 

 John D. Carter; and 'Winter Bird-life in the 

 Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania,' by Wil- 

 liam L. Bailey.— F. M. C. 



Birds of Labrador. By Charles W. 

 Townsend, M.D., and Glover M. 

 Allen, Proc. Boston Society Nat. Hist., 

 Vol. Ti2, pp. 277-428, pi. 29. 



A summer on the Labrador coast gave the 

 authors of this paper an opportunity to be- 

 come acquainted with the more significant 

 characteristics of the avifauna of the region 

 and, at the same time, gave them that inter- 

 ested and discriminating point of view which 

 only personal experience creates. Hence, we 

 have here, not alone, some exceptionally 

 good biographical material based on original 

 observation — and in passing we commend 

 this paper to young ornithologists as an illus- 

 tration of how much may be seen in a brief 

 period if one is determined to make the best 

 use of one's opportunities, — but a critical 



(220) 



