156 
the published records of other ornitholo- 
gists, this volume contains much original 
matter, which adds greatly to its value as 
a work of reference, and: we heartily con- 
gratulate its authors on the successful 
conclusion of a task which has made 
all working ornithologists their debtors.— 
F. M. C. 
Cuecxk List oF NortH AMERICAN BrirRps. 
Prepared by a Committee of the 
American Ornithologists’ Union. Third 
(Revised) Edition. New York. Ameri- 
can Ornithologists’ Union. 1910. 8vo. 
430 pages, 2 maps. 
The fifteen supplements to the A. O. U. 
Check-List which have been issued since 
the publication of the second edition, in 
1895, have introduced so many changes in 
the nomenclature of North American 
birds that bird students everywhere will 
welcome the appearance of a volume 
which brings the subject, so far as names 
are concerned, up-to-date. In classifica- 
tion, however, there has been no change 
from that employed in the two preceding 
editions, the Committee deciding that 
since no satisfactory classification has as 
yet been proposed, it is unquestionably 
better to continue to use one already 
familiar than to adopt one admittedly 
tentative, and so long as the classifica- 
tion of birds remains an expression of in- 
dividual opinion as to the value and sig- 
nificance of the factors involved, it is to 
be hoped that the Committee will continue 
to view the matter “from the standpoint 
of convenience.” 
The changes in the nomenclature we 
have not ventured to enumerate, but we 
observe that scarcely a page of our anno- 
tated copy of the second edition of the 
Check - List is without one or more 
emendations. These, however, are the 
unavoidable result of the consistent ap- 
plication of standard laws of nomenclature, 
and their very numbers are an indica- 
tion of our progress toward reasonable 
stability. 
The few changes which have been 
made in the English names of our birds 
are in deference to popular usage, which 
has not adopted various common names 
Bird - 
Lore 
proposed in the first edition of the Check- 
List, or for other desirable reasons. The 
whole list of new names will be found in 
Brrv-Lore for October, 1909. The num- 
ber of species included is 790 plus 385 sub- 
species, a total of 1,175 as compared with 
the 797 species, 300 subspecies, and total 
of 1,097 forms in the second edition. The 
loss in species is due, in the main, to the 
exclusion of Giraud’s alleged Texas rec- 
ords of Mexican birds, while larger col- 
lections and finer discriminations account 
for the gain in subspecies. 
The modern, logical method for the 
use of trinomials is adopted, and when a 
species is divisible into two or more 
forms, the binonial name is applied to the 
group as a whole, and trinomials are 
used for all the included forms. 
It is, however, in the paragraphs de- 
voted to ‘Range’ that the new Check-List 
shows the most marked improvement 
over the preceding editions; and for the 
vast fund of information they contain, we 
have to thank the Biological Survey, 
which in possessing an incomparable 
series of data on the distribution of North 
American birds, is in a position to make 
this portion of the work adequately 
present existing knowledge. While our 
thanks are due each member of the Com- 
mittee for his part in preparing this in- 
dispensable volume, we speak advisedly 
when we say that every user of it is under 
an especial obligation to its Editor, Dr. 
J. A. Allen, who in revising manuscripts 
and in seeing this volume through the 
press has for the better part of two years 
devoted no small portion of his time to 
what in truth has been a labor of love — 
F. M. C. 
PRIvATE GAME PRESERVES AND THEIR 
FUTURE IN THE UNITED StatEs. By T. 
S. Patmer. Bureau of Biological Survey. 
Circular No. 72, May, 1910. to pages, 
6 half-tones. 
While game preserves are established 
in order that game may be killed upon 
them, they become, at the same time, 
refuges for many species of birds which, 
being fortunate enough not to be killed 
