Jan., 1908 



PUBLICATIONS REVIEWED 



ist in any one field of natural history without 

 at the same time knowing something of the 

 general problems, laws and theories of biology. 

 No student of birds should pursue his narrow 

 line of study, oblivious of the main results of 

 work with the other classes of animals. The 

 all -important facts and processes of organic 

 evolution are as essential a feature of ornitho- 

 logical knowledge, as of a knowledge of in- 

 sects, or fishes, or of plants. 



In their new book, titled as above, Jordan 

 and Kellogg present a well-selected series of 

 facts bearing on the subject of evolution, de- 

 rived from the latest work in both Europe and 

 Ameiica. The early theories and arguments of 

 Darwin, Lamarck and others, and the recent 

 laws and theories of Mendel, Galton, DeVries, 

 arid Burbank, are succinctly presented. And 

 the views of the authors themselves appear to 

 us to reflect the very sanest of recent opinions 

 on the many disputed points discussed. The 

 treatment is popular, in the sense of being 

 clear and easily understandable by the lay 

 reader. The abundant illustrations are lessons 

 in themselves. 



In fine, we would recommend the book as 

 the very best and most up-to-date on the sub- 

 ject of evolution, a book that every bird student 

 should read and study, in order to have a 

 broad foundation-knowledge upon which to 

 build his ornithology. 



We regret to note not a few typographical 

 or perhaps chirographical slips, such as doubt- 

 less resulted from hurried proof-reading. A 

 few minor errors are noticeable; such as the 

 nest of "Rufous hummingbird" photographed 

 at Stanford University, (Fig. 274) very improb- 

 ably that species, but the Allen hummingbird 

 (Selasphovus alleni). Nor have we ever seen 

 any species of "Aythya" marked like those in 

 Fig. 276. The composition in places could 

 have been smoothed over a bit. 



But the subject-matter and mode of presen- 

 tation of the book cannot be criticized, as far 

 as we are concerned. We urge those of our 

 readers who wish to acquire a familiarity with 

 the latest evolutionary views, to make use of 

 this, the best exposition of the entire subject 

 as it now stands to be obtained. — J. G. 



The Birds | of ] North and Middle 

 America: | A Descriptive Catalogue ] [etc. 7 

 lines]. I By | ROBERT Ridgway | Curator, Div- 

 ision of Birds | | Part IV. | Family Tur- 



(^/(/^ —Thrushes. Family Zeledoniidce \ Wren- 

 Thrushes. Family Mimidcs — Mockingbirds. 

 Family Sturnidce—Sta.r\\ngs. Family Ploceidce 

 I Weaver Birds. Family Alaudidce — Larks. 

 Family Oyxruncido' — Sharp-bills. Family 

 Tyrannidtx— Tyrant Flycatchers. Family 



Pipridcs—M.a.nak.\ns. Family Cotitigido'— 

 Chatterers. | 1 Washington: | Govern- 

 ment Printing Office. | 1907. (our copy re- 



ceived August 24) =Bulletin U. S. N. M. No. 

 50, Part IV, I pp i-xxii, 1-974, pll. I-XXXIV. 



In the four volumes of this great work now 

 published there have been described 1,675 

 species and subspecies, or somewhat more than 

 half the total number of North and Middle 

 American Birds." The amount of work repre- 

 sented in the 4000 closely printed pages already 

 issued is marvelous, when we bear in mind that 

 it means the labor of one man. The synonym- 

 ies alone constitute an undertaking of great 

 magnitude. There is not the least doubt in 

 our minds but that Mr. Ridgway's work is not 

 only the greatest in point of size, but the most 

 thoro, of all the systematic treatises on Amer- 

 ican birds ever issued. 



The title, above quoted, indicates the scope 

 of Part IV. We will simply call attention to a 

 few of the points of interest in regard to 

 Western species. 



Mr. Ridgway enters in full standing both 

 the Monterey Hermit Thrush {Hylocichla gut- 

 tata slevini) and the Sierra Hermit Thrush {H. 

 g. sequoiensis) while the alleged Hylocichla 

 ustulata cedica is included under H. ustulata 

 ustulaia. Ixorieus ncsvius meruloides, a sup- 

 posed northern form of the Varied Thrush, is 

 considered inseparable from Ixoreus ncsvius 

 proper. Planesticus is introduced as the genus 

 name for the Robin. The range of the San 

 Pedro Bluebird {Sialia mexicana anabelce) is 

 extended to include the "mountains of San 

 Diego and southern Los Angeles counties, 

 California, and along the eastern slope of the 

 Sierra Nevada as far as Mount Lassen," The 

 Pasadena Thrasher ( Toxostoma redivivum pas- 

 adenense) is not considered separable from the 

 California Thrasher (7". r. redivivum). The 

 Horned Larks are entered practically as worked 

 out by Oberholser. A sort of dichromatism is 

 ascribed to certain Empidonaces, as haimnondi, 

 wrightii and griseus. This discovery is of ex- 

 treme interest; yet it still more complicates the 

 differential characterization of these difficult 

 species. The genus Contopiis, for the Wood 

 Pewees, becomes RIyiochanes. 



In lack of the long-delaying new A. O. U. 

 check-list, it seems to us that students can do 

 no better than follow Ridgway's lead implicit- 

 ly in matters of nomenclature. In fact we do 

 not know but what the check-list had better 

 give way for the present to the ' 'Birds of North 

 and Middle America," leaving the latter as the 

 only recognized authority. — J. G. 



Research in China | Expedition of 1903- 



04, under the direction of Bailey Willis | 



1 Report on Zoology | by | Eliot Black- 

 welder I [extracted from Carnegie Institution 

 of Washington Publication No. 54, | Research 

 in China, Volume I, Part II, pages 481-508, 6 

 plates, [vignette] ] Washington, D. C: | Pu 



