Book News and Reviews 



213 



As before, his treatment is both objective 

 and subjective, his notes on the birds 

 observed being accompanied by a discussion 

 of 'Bird Waves,' 'Pauses in Migration,' 

 'Retrograde Migration,' 'Overflow from 

 Southern Breeding Grounds,' 'Cause of 

 Return Migration.' 



We have before commented on Mr. 

 Loomis' theories in regard to the under- 

 lying causes of migration* and will here 

 only add that as the expressions of an 

 ornithologist of wide field experience his 

 views are worthy of consideration by ail 

 students of migration. — F. M. C. 



A List of the Land Birds of Santa Cruz 

 County, California. By Richard Mc- 

 Gregor. Pacific Coast Avifauna No. 2. 

 Cooper Ornithological Club, Santa Clara, 

 Calif. May 15, 1901. Royal 8vo. 22 

 pages. Price, 25 cents. 



This list includes all the previously pub- 

 lished information in regard to the manner 

 of occurrence of the birds of the region 

 treated and as well as some additional 

 material, and while the author trusts that it 

 is "a fairly complete list of the land birds of 

 Santa Cruz county," of which 139 species 

 and subspecies are included, he hopes that 

 It may "form a foundation for a future and 

 more complete exposition of the Santa Cruz 

 avifauna." Apparently much remains to be 

 learned of the times of migration and nest- 

 ing of Santa Cruz birds, and the list, there- 

 fore, of this kind, lacks that definiteness so 

 desirable in publications. It, however, is 

 of evident value in determining the complex 

 faunal characteristics of the region, which 

 are well outlined in an introduction by 

 Walter K. Fisher.— F. M. C. 



The Ornithological Magazines 



The Auk. — ' An Ornithological Mystery' 

 from the pen of Wm. Brewster, opens the 

 October number. Occasionally since 1889, 

 a bird voice, for a season, has haunted 

 certain marshes of eastern Massachusetts 

 and mocked all efforts of Mr. Brewster and 

 Mr. Faxon to run to earth the owner; — 

 vox et prceterea nihil. His notes have 

 brought upon him the suggestive name of 



*BlRD-LORE II, 1900, 92. 



'Kicker,' but evidently he does not court 

 the publicity that other ' kickers ' seek. 

 Several lists follow: ' A Preliminary List of 

 the Summer Birds of Mt. Mansfield, Ver- 

 mont,' by A. H. Howell; ' On a Collection 

 of Birds made * * * at * * * Chiriqui,' 

 by O. Bangs, several of them new, and ' A 

 List of Hawaiian Birds * * *.' Will some- 

 body instance a case where a preliminary 

 list was ever followed by a final one from 

 the same author, and is there no escape from 

 the tiresome, initial ' On ' that still mars so 

 many titles? A. C. Bent describes the 

 ' Nesting Habits of the Anatidae of North 

 Dakota,' illustrating his paper with several 

 good half-tones, and J. A. Farley presents 

 a study of the Alder Flycatcher in eastern 

 Massachusetts; F. J. Birtwell throws light 

 on 'The Nesting Habits of the Evening 

 Grosbeak,' having discovered and photo- 

 graphed in New Mexico two nests of this 

 species. 'A New Classification of Birds,' 

 based on pterylosis, is attempted by H. L. 

 Clark. Considering how imperfect is the 

 present knowledge of the pterylosis of even 

 the most familiar species, the attempt is 

 somewhat ambitious, although a step for- 

 ward in a direction now much neglected. 

 Various notes and reviews complete the 

 number. The statement by Mrs. Bates 

 under 'Maine Bird Notes,' that she heard 

 Martins at night should be corroborated, 

 for it is easy to be mistaken in the calls 

 that come from the overhead armies of 

 migrants that move as a whole so silently 

 and so swiftly to other climes. — J. D., Jr. 



The Condor. — ' The Condor' for Sep- 

 tember and October contains as usual nu- 

 merous field observations made by members 

 of the Cooper Ornithological Club. Bar- 

 low contributes an interesting account of 

 the Mountain Chickadee, and Cohen re- 

 counts his experience with Barn Owls in 

 captivity. Under the title of 'Summer Ob- 

 servations in the Sierras,' Daggett mentions 

 the more conspicuous birds observed during 

 a trip from Pasadena, California, by way of 

 Fort Tejon and Visalia, to the North Fork 

 of the Kaweah, King's River Canon and 

 Kearsarge Pass near Mt. Brewer. The 

 paper shows very clearly the great diversity 



