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Bird - Lore 



" Kidgway's vernacular names, in 

 'Birds of North and Middle America,' 

 are adapted for the species and sub-species 

 of Chamtca. ' Macgilliway's Warbler' is 

 tiot changed to 'Tolmic's Warbler.'" — ■ 

 F. M. C. 



The Condor. — Of the eight principal 

 papers in the May number of 'The Con- 

 dor,' three treat of nesting habits. Hanna 

 reports the finding of a nest and eggs of 

 the White-throated Swift, in May, 1908, 

 in an old cjuarry on Slover mountain, near 

 Colton, California; Silloway tells of find- 

 ing the nests of the Long-billed Curlew and 

 Short-eared Owl in Montana; and Rock- 

 well describes 'The Use of Magpies' 

 Nests by Other Birds.' The Long-eared 

 Owl, Western Horned Owl, Screech Owl, 

 Sharp-shinned Hawk, Dove and English 

 Sparrow are mentioned as species known 

 to utilize abandoned nests of the Magpie 

 as nesting-sites. In a brief but interesting 

 article, Gifford gives notes on two pairs of 

 Mourning Doves which bred in captivity, 

 and incidentally indicates that the period 

 of incubation is fourteen days. The chief 

 point of interest in Tyler's ' Notes from 

 Fresno County,' is the record of the 

 Spotted Owl {Syrnium occidentale), near 

 Elovis, on March 9, 1908. In a short, 

 illustrated article, Ray describes the 

 ' Passing of the Pedro Island Seabird 

 Rookery,' in San Mateo county, Cali- 

 fornia, where eight species of birds still 

 breed in greatly diminished numbers. 

 An ' Ornithological Trip to Los Coronadas 

 Islands, Mexico,' is described by Wright, 

 who adds notes on twenty -two species 

 of birds found on the islands in June, 

 1908. 



Preston's brief article on 'The Swarm- 

 ing of the Ruby-crowned Kinglet,' and 

 an editorial note on cats (here styled 

 'Cherisht Pets') ha\c an 'unlookt for' in- 

 terest 'attacht' to them by having their 

 verbs 'dipt.' Heretofore the appearance 

 of 'The Condor' has been marred by a 

 few bob-tailed words, like 'allho,' 'thru' 

 and 'thoroly.' Now the editor, in a frenzy 

 of simplified spelling, has attacked about 

 twenty verbs, chietly those ending in 



li, k, p, and 5. The innovation might be 

 less objectionable if it were accompanied 

 l)y consistency, but it seems to have been 

 applied only in spots. Judged by the stan- 

 dard of the pages above mentioned, another 

 ]>age contains at least half a dozen typo- 

 graphical errors. A more serious diffi- 

 culty is the mutilation of names of certain 

 species, which will probably soon follow. 

 The use of the forms ' hatcht,' 'locki,' 

 'liopt,' etc., necessarily means the adop- 

 tion of such names as ' Scorcht Horned 

 Lark,' ' Russet-^ac^/ Thrush,' ' Black- 

 capt Vireo' and 'Sharp-5/n'«/ Hawk.' In 

 fact, the ' 0\\vQ-backt Thrush' is formally 

 introduced in abbreviated form in this 

 number. — T. S. P. 



The Wilson Bulletin. -7-The June, 

 1908, number of this long-established pub- 

 lication opens with an illustrated paper on 

 ' June Birds of the Washington Coast,' by 

 Lynd Jones. F. L. Burns contributes the 

 second of his Alexander Wilson series, 

 'The Mystery of the Small-headed Fly- 

 catcher,' and there is a large instalment 

 of Taverner and Swales' valuable paper 

 on 'The Birds of Pt. Pelee.' In the Sep- 

 tember issue this paper is completed, and 

 Burns contributes another paper on 

 Wilson, while there are various local 

 notes. 



For December, we have 'The Making 

 of the American Ornithology,' from F. L. 

 Burns. Adrian Larson gives a list of 

 October birds of Wall Lake, S. D.; P. A. 

 Taverner contributes his 1908 bird notes 

 in southeastern Michigan, and Lynd Jones 

 presents another instalment of 'The June 

 Birds of Washington.' Dr. Shufeldt has 

 a note on the nest of the Mississippi Kite, 

 and the usual Ohio notes complete the 

 issue. 



The March, 1909, number contains 

 another Wilson article by Burns, and an 

 instalment of Jones' ' June Birds of Wash- 

 ington.' B. H. B. also writes of the Barn 

 Owl in Ohio, and there is an interesting 

 series of observations by students of Ohio 

 University who watched nests of young 

 birds during an entire day, noting the 

 number of visits made by the ])arents, etc. 



