iSooft jBletos anti 9^etitetos 



Birds of Princeton, New Jersey and Vi- 

 cinity. By William Arthur Babson. 

 Bull. Bird Club Princeton University. 

 Vol. I, No. I. Sept., 1901. 8vo. 82 

 pagjes. Price, paper, $1 ; cloth, $1.25. 



This list is based mainly on the author's 

 observations from 1897-1900, while a stu- 

 dent at Princeton University, and on the 

 notes of W. E. D. Scott and A. H. Phillips, 

 both well known for their ornithological 

 work about Princeton. It enumerates 230 

 species, which are classified according to the 

 manner of their occurrence as follows: Per- 

 manent Residents, 34; Summer Residents, 

 70; Summer Visitants, 7 ; Winter Residents, 

 15; Winter Visitants, 16; Regular Tran- 

 sients, 65; Irregular, 17; Accidental Visit- 

 ants, 12. 



The annotations abound in interesting 

 records, and include what is highly desir- 

 able, but too often omitted from local lists, 

 definite migration and nesting dates. These 

 make the list of practical value to all work- 

 ing ornithologists in the eastern United 

 States. 



The strong Carolinian element in the 

 Princeton avifauna is attested by the regular 

 occurrence of the Turkey Buzzard, Barn Owl, 

 Acadian Flycatcher, Fish Crow, Cardinal, 

 Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Chickadee, and 

 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and it is therefore 

 somewhat surprising to learn that other 

 Carolinian birds (e.g., Kentucky Warbler 

 and Hooded Warbler) which are common 

 in the lower Hudson Valley as far north, at 

 least, as Sing Sing, are exceedingly rare 

 and not known to breed at Princeton. Pos- 

 sibly local conditions may account for the 

 absence of these birds from a point well 

 within their range, and the case illustrates 

 very clearly the need of a large number of 

 observations from even a limited area in 

 determining exactly the distribution of birds. 



The list is well printed, and the Princeton 

 Bird Club is to be congratulated on the at- 

 tractiveness and worth of this its first publi- 

 cation, which at once takes its place among 

 standard faunal literature. — F. M. C. 



The Relation of Sparrov^'s to Agricul- 

 ture. By Sylvester D. Judd. Bull. 

 No, 15, Division of Biological Survey, 

 U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 98 pages, 

 4 plates, 19 text cuts. 



This bulletin presents not only the known 

 facts in regard to the food habits of Spar- 

 rows, but may also be taken as an admirable 

 illustration of the most advanced methods of 

 research in economic ornithology, in which 

 a study of the bird's food in nature is quite 

 as important as the examination of its 

 stomach contents in the laboratory. As 

 Dr. Judd well says: "Although the exami- 

 nation of a bird's stomach shows just what 

 the bird has eaten, yet if this alone be de- 

 pended upon, information is still wanting as 

 to what has been refused or what preferences 

 exist, since the different elements of the food 

 supply in the locality where the stomach was 

 collected are not taken into account. If, 

 however, this lacking information be ob- 

 tained by means of field observation, and 

 used in connection with stomach examina- 

 tion, the examiner will be able to make his 

 analysis with the fullest degree of accuracy. 



The economic value of Sparrows lies 

 chiefly in their destructiveness to weed seeds. 

 Dr. Judd remarks: "In a garden, within 

 two months, they will sometimes destroy 90 

 per cent of such weeds as pigeon-grass and 

 ragweed. . . . Weed seed forms more than 

 half of their food for the entire year, and 

 during the colder half of the year it consti- 

 tutes about four-fifths of the food of many 

 species." This statement is supported by 

 the statistics of stomach examination and 

 field study, and our belief in the importance 

 of Sparrows to our agricultural interests is 

 thus placed on sound scientific basis. — 

 F. M. C. 



California Water Birds. — No. V. 

 Vicinity of Monterey in May and 

 Early June. By Leverett M. Loomis. 

 Proc. Calif. Acad. Sciences, Third Series, 

 II, No. 5, Dec. 24, 1900. Pages 349-363. 



Mr. Loomis here gives us his fifth paper 

 on the migration of California water-birds. 



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