i8o 



Bird- Lore 



ences with his neighbor man, — tlie aim 

 being to interest young people in bird-life 

 through the adoption of an intimate and 

 personal point of view. It is to be regretted 

 that the realism of the text could not have 

 been furthered by actual photographs of 

 living Robins rather than by drawings, 

 which we fear " Mig Robin" would not 

 always endorse. — F. AI. C. 



Wanderings in South America, the 

 Northwest of the United States 

 AND the Antilles in the Years 1812, 

 1816, 1820 and 1824. By Charles 

 Waterton. Including a Memoir of the 

 Author by Norman Moore. With Illus- 

 trations and a Brief Introduction by 

 Charles Livingston Bull. New York. 

 Sturgis and Walton Company. 1909. 

 i2mo. x.\vi-|-338 pages. 16 plates in 

 tint. 



■ The republication from time to time of 

 classics like Waterton's 'Travels' is an 

 excellent reminder of the continued claims 

 to our attention of the work of these pio- 

 neer naturalists. The present edition of 

 Waterton is most attractive; but we think — 

 and we believe that Waterton would agree 

 with us — that the publishers have been 

 unfortunate in their choice of an artist. 

 However artistic Mr. Bull's drawings may 

 be, they are better adapted to illustrate the 

 tales of Kipling or fancies of Roberts than 

 Waterton's more literal text; while the use 

 of a colored ink, which produces species 

 unknown to science, and the placing of the 

 caption "Egret" under the Jabiru plate, 

 would we imagine have been resented by 

 Mr. Waterton with characteristic vigor. — 

 F. M. C. 



The Ornithological Magazines 



The Condor.— The March 'Condor' 

 opens with an instructive paper, by H. S. 

 Swarth, on the 'Distribution and Molt of 

 Mearns Quail,' illustrated by a map of the 

 bird's range in the United States and two 

 figures showing various stages of the molt. 

 An interesting contribution to the discus- 

 sion of 'The Popular Names of Birds' 

 is furnished by Dr. Dwight, who, with 

 characteristic humor, shows some of the 



disadvantages of dropping the possessive 

 form of personal names, and pleads for 

 greater uniformity in the common names 

 of subspecies. 



Mailliard describes a 'Nest of the Dusky 

 Poor -Will,' found near San Geronimo, 

 Cal., on July 22, 1908, and Stephens 

 contributes some important 'Notes on the 

 California Black Rail.' The latter bird 

 is shown to be probably resident in 

 the salt marshes along the coast of southern 

 California, where it breeds in March and 

 April, nesting in the Salicornia, and laying 

 from f{5ur to eight eggs. 'Among the 

 Thrashers in Arizona' is the title of a paper 

 by Oilman, evidently based on consider- 

 able field work, for the author mentions 

 five species and states that in 1908 he made 

 notes on the nests of i Leconte, 27 Palmer, 

 39 Bendire and 45 Crissal Thrashers, 

 in all 112 nests. Bowles 'Notes on Partis 

 rujescens in western Washington' are 

 confined chiefly to observations on the 

 nesting habits of the bird in the vicinity of 

 Tacoma, showing that the set of seven 

 eggs is usually deposited the second week 

 in May, and the number may vary from 

 six to nine. The most extended article is 

 Smith's 'Observations on Some Birds 

 found in Southern Mexico,' near Cuer- 

 navaca, fifty miles southwest of the city 

 of Mexico. 



Among the brief notes should be men- 

 tioned the record, by H. W. Marsden, 

 apparently the first for the state, of the 

 capture of the Chestnut-sided Warbler 

 {Dendroica J>ensylvanica), near Sherwood, 

 Mendocino Co., Calif., September 21, 

 1908; and the finding by Howard Wright 

 of the ancient Murrelet {Synth! iboram- 

 phtis antiquus), at San Pedro, Calif., 

 Jan, 23, 1908.— T. S. P. 



Book News 



Professor Wallace Craig, who has 

 been for some years studying the Pigeons 

 in Professor Whitman's columbarium, 

 presents American Journal of Sociol- 

 ogy (XIV, 1908, pp. 86-100) a brief 

 preliminary statement of the results of 

 his labors in advance of their later pub- 



