3o8 



Bird - Lore 



for January, 191 7, are substantial contri- 

 butions to our knowledge of the nesting 

 habits of this characteristic species of the 

 mountains of the West. 



Mrs. Bailey's paper on 'A Return to the 

 Dakota Lake Region' is continued with an 

 account of the 'Birds of the Unbroken 

 Prairie.' The type, locality, early history, 

 and name of Costa's Hummingbird are 

 discussed by the present reviewer, who 

 shows that the species was described from a 

 a specimen collected in all probability at 

 Magdalena Bay, Lower California, and 

 that the bird was not taken in California 

 until twenty years later, and its eggs not 

 until nearly half a century after the dis- 

 covery of the species. 



In an interesting review of 'The Dis- 

 tribution of the Subspecies of the Brown 

 Towhee' {Pipilo crissalis), based on a 

 study of 383 specimens, Swarth shows that 

 the three forms of this bird in California 

 {Pipilo c. crissalis, P. c. carolce, and P. c. 

 senicula) occupy well-defined areas which 

 are outlined on an accompanying map. 

 It is rather remarkable that, although this 

 Towhee is so characteristic of the coast 

 region, no specimens from Lake Napa, San 

 Francisco, San Mateo, or Santa Cruz 

 counties seem to have been examined in 

 the preparation of the paper. In view of 

 the recent discussion concerning the 

 scarcity of the Brown Towhee on the San 

 Francisco peninsula it would have been 

 interesting to have had some explanation 

 or mention of the local rarity of the bird 

 in this part of its range. 



The brief notes include Hunt's in- 

 genious reconstruction of certain evidence 

 of the presence of a Short-eared Owl near 

 the University campus at Berkeley (an 

 addition to the species of the local list) and 

 Bryant's summary of the contents of 18 

 stomachs representing 12 species of 

 Hawks and Owls from California. — T. S. P. 



and years of constant noise and flames, 

 gases and dangers, wild birds have shown 

 an astonishing disregard of these supreme 

 efforts of mankind. They soar and vol- 

 plane, they seek their food, quarrel with 

 one another, carry on their courtship, mate 

 and rear families in close proximity to the 

 actual fighting and exploding shells. In 

 fact, their numbers have increased near 

 ruined villages where they nest in the 

 shattered houses and in cathedrals still 

 smoking from devastating bombardment." 



The Twenty-seventh Annual Report of 

 the Royal Society for the Protection of 

 Birds, presented at the general meeting of 

 March 12, 1918, recounts the efforts of the 

 Society in combating the popular but 

 thoughtless desire to increase our food- 

 supply at the expense of our bird-life at a 

 time when birds are of exceptional impor- 

 tance to our agricultural interests. 



Fortunately, the efforts of the Society 

 were warmly supported by the public, to 

 which it appealed through a special leaflet, 

 entitled 'Birds, Insects and Crops.' The 

 Society remarks with much truth, "Un- 

 doubtedly this was a duty which should 

 have been fulfilled by the Government 

 departments entrusted with agricultural 

 and educational interests and with public 

 money for such purposes; but since these 

 had systematically neglected it, a Society 

 with an income less than that of many an 

 individual salaried official had to come to 

 the rescue." 



The spring and summer, 191 8, issue of 

 the 'Audubon Bulletin' of the Illinois 

 Audubon Society contains 48 pages filled 

 with interesting matter relating chiefly to 

 birds and bird-conservation in Illinois. 

 The address of Miss Amalie Hanning, the 

 treasurer of the Society, is 1649 Otis 

 Building, Chicago. 



Book News 



In the May issue of the New York 

 Zoological Society's 'Bulletin,' William 

 Beebe, writing on 'Animal Life at the 

 Front,' says that "In spite of the months 



The Department of Fish and Game of 

 the state of Alabama, has issued its usual 

 'Bird Day Book,' a pamphlet of ninety- 

 six pages containing selections in prose 

 and verse on the beauty and value of 

 birds. 



