THE NIDIOIvOGlST. 



71 



houses in Alameda. A nest of Parkman's 

 Wren was built by carrying the material 

 through the bung-hole of a cask. R. S. 

 Wheeler discovered a nest of Mourning 

 Dove built on a large bunch of lodged tules 

 in May, 1894. 



May 20, 1894. In a wagon-shed adjoin- 

 ing a farmer's cabin at the base of Mt. 

 Diablo, the nest of a pair of House Finches, 

 built in the angle formed by the wall and a 

 home-made harness rack in daily use. The 

 old birds had become very tame. 



February meeting will be held at Mr. 

 Bryant's residence in Oakland, February 2. 



Recent Publications. 



AN admirable volume of 1 76 pages, bear- 

 ing the title of "The Birds of Eastern 

 Pennsylvania and New Jersey ' ' by Wit 

 mer Stone, has been prepared by the 

 author under the direction of the Deleware 

 Valley Ornithological Club. The frontis- 

 piece is a halftone portrait of the ' 'Father of 

 American Ornithology," Alexander Wil- 

 son. A map of the Deleware Valley and 

 a colored faunal map of the region studied 

 are contained in the work. The publica- 

 tion, bearing date of 1894, is intended to 

 present a summary of the knowledge of the 

 birds occurring in the district treated. A 

 chapter on Geographical Distribution of 

 Birds presents concisely the generally ac- 

 cepted laws on the subject and so applied 

 to the birds of that district, while the phy- 

 sical features with their characteristic bird 

 life are clearly described in a style which 

 may serve as a model of its kind. Too often 

 Ornithological papers, especiall}^ local, an- 

 notated lists, are very deficient in physical 

 and topographical notes which are so much 

 needed for a perfect understanding of the 

 avi-fauna of any region. In this respect 

 the club through Mr. Stone leaves nothing 

 to be desired. 



The subject of bird migration has been 

 given close attention by members of the 

 club, as is evinced in the one instance alone 

 of an almost complete table of the dates of 

 arrival of fifty species of birds for eight con- 

 secutive years, from 1885. 



A carefully prepared annotated list of the 

 birds recorded from those parts of Pennsyl- 

 vania and New Jersey lying east and south 

 of the Alleghany Mountains comprises the 

 greater part of the volume, 352 species be- 

 ing included. Under each species is given 



with short observations on its occurrence, 

 relative abundance and records of the cap- 

 ture of the rarer species, the important 

 statements being followed b}' the names of 

 the persons quoted, thus given individuals 

 full credit for their work and observations 

 and adding interest and value to the notes. 

 The same plan is followed in regard to pub- 

 lished matter which is cited. 



A complete bibliography of the birds of 

 Pennsylvania and New Jersey follows the 

 list, with a list of the published papers and 

 manuscript notes used in the preparation of 

 the volume. The work is indexed with 

 the technical and vernacular names used in 

 the list. 



Probably no district of similar extent in 

 North America has been so satisfactorily 

 and completely studied in the same respect 

 and certainly no publication has so neatly, 

 clearly and concisely presented the subject 

 to Ornithologists as is here done. The typo- 

 graphy and general arrangement of the 

 subject, together with the evident care in 

 the collection and preparation of data, may 

 well be followed in works of similar scope 

 and commended to other Ornithological 

 clubs. 



In December number of Our Animal 

 Friends, Mr. Frank M. Chapman has an 

 article on "Mortality Among Birds," where- 

 in he classes the agencies which are destruc- 

 tive to bird-life as of two kind, natural and 

 artificial; in the first class are included other 

 birds and mammals, snakes and climatic 

 causes, the latter so far as known being the 

 principal cause, overtaking healthy birds 

 during migration and destroying unknown 

 numbers. 



In the second class the writer names man 

 and certain of his works — as lighthouses 

 and telegraph wires. The destruction of 

 birds by man might be divided into, first, 

 those killed in the name of science; second, 

 game birds and others killed by sporstmen 

 and shooters generally; and third, birds de- 

 stroyed purely for millinery purposes. The 

 first and second might be termed legitimate 

 destruction but those who are most out- 

 spoken in denunciation of the fashion of 

 wearing birds or fragments of birds as orna- 

 ments will find it difficult to convince the 

 "plume-hunter" of the error of his way or 

 make any marked impression against fashion 

 for have not many and beneficial or other- 

 wise harmless birds been wantonly shot by 

 so-called sportsmen when "out for game?" 



