Book News and Reviews 



237 



'Six Weeks in the High Sierras in Nesting 

 Time,' and shows that some of the birds 

 begin to nest the middle of May when snow 

 is still on the ground. A month later 

 (June 12) nests and eggs of Mountain 

 Chickadees, Sierra Creepers, Williamson's 

 Sapsuckers, Blue-fronted Jays, and Sierra 

 Juncos were found at the base of Pyramid 

 Peak, at an altitude of 8,000 feet, when 

 the region was covered with deep snow. 

 Under the title 'The Scarlet Ibis in Texas,' 

 Sell reviews the mass of data relating to 

 the local occurrence of this species and 

 accounts for no less than nine mounted 

 specimens said to have been obtained in 

 the state. If these records are authentic, 

 the bird is evidently not so rare in Texas 

 as has been supposed. 



'The Subspecies of the Oregon Jay' have 

 recently been examined by Oberholser 

 and Swarth independently, and the differ- 

 ences in the conclusions reached by these 

 two ornithologists are commented on 

 briefly by Swarth. In 'Bird Notes from 

 Forrester Island, Alaska,' made in 191 7, 

 Willett adds fifteen species to the island 

 bird-list, including the Pink-footed Shear- 

 water and Brandt's Cormorant, recorded 

 for the first time from Alaska. As a result 

 of field work in 1917, in Mono and Inyo 

 Counties, in the region east of the Sierras, 

 Grinnell is able to add seven birds to the 

 California list. Two of these, the Inyo 

 Slender-billed Nuthatch {Sitta c. tanuis- 

 sima) from the Panamint Mountains, and 

 a Hermit Thrush {II ylocichla g. polionota) 

 from the White Mountains, are described 

 as new subspecies; positive evidence is 

 produced for the first time of the breeding 

 of the Broad-tailed Hummingbird in Cali- 

 fornia, and the Rocky Mountain Pigmy 

 Owl, White-breasted Woodpecker, Chest- 

 nut-collared Longspur and Mountain Tow- 

 hee are species new to the state. — -T. S. P. 



El Hornero. — This recent addition 

 to the list of ornithological magazines is 

 the organ of the Ornithological Society 

 of La Plata. It takes its name from 

 Furnarius rufus, the Oven-bird, one of 

 the most characteristic and well-known 

 species of Argentina. 



Thus far only the first number of 'El 

 Hornero,' dated October i, 1917, has 

 reached us. It outlines the admirable 

 aims of the Society it represents for the 

 protection of birds and for arousing an 

 interest in them in Argentina and the 

 neighboring countries, and contains a 

 number of technical and popular articles. 



Roberto Dabbene, the well-known 

 Curator of Ornithology in the Museo 

 Nacional at Buenos Aires, and president 

 of the Society, presents a summary, with 

 illustrations and a key, of the Swifts of 

 Argentina, and also contributes a paper on 

 a collection of birds from the island of 

 Martin Garcia in the Rio de la Plata. 

 M. Doello-Jurado writes at length on 

 the birds of Puerto Deseado off Patagonia. 

 His extended notes on nesting-habits are 

 accompanied by excellent photographs. 



Under the title 'Formacion del "Gabi- 

 nete del Rey," ' Felix F. Outes gives some 

 most interesting historical data concerning 

 the earliest notices of South American 

 birds and bird collections. Manuel Selva 

 discusses in a suggestive manner a 

 classification of birds based on haunts and 

 nesting habits, and there are shorter notes 

 by Pedro Serie, Hector Ambrosetti, and 

 Roberto Dabbene which, together with 

 several pages of news items, show that 

 'El Hornero' is not lacking in material for 

 its pages. 



We wish this magazine and the Society 

 of which it is the organ every possible 

 success. — F. M. C. 



Book News 



Students of the coloration of birds will 

 be interested in an article by Dr. W. H. 

 Longley, entitled 'Studies upon the Bio- 

 logical Significance of Animal Coloration,' 

 which appeared in 'The American Natu- 

 ralist' for May, 191 7 (pp. 257-285). 



'The Bluebird,' published at Cleveland, 

 Ohio, announces that on and after April 

 I its yearly subscription price will be 

 increased to $1.50, that single copies will 

 be 15 cents, and that no free copies will 

 be distributed. 



