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First Annual Report of the Division of 

 Ornithology of the Commonwealth of 

 Massachusetts, By Edward Howe 

 Forbush. Reprinted from the annual 

 report of the Department of Agriculture 

 for the year ending November 30, 1920. 

 8vo, 47 pages, 4 plates. 



It is, we believe, demonstrable that the 

 widespread interest in birds which exists in 

 Massachusetts is due to the services of the 

 state's Director of its Division of Ornithology 

 no less than to the natural inclination of its 

 inhabitants. For many years, during which 

 Mr. Forbush has represented organized orni- 

 thology in Massachusetts, he has exerted not 

 only a potent influence in behalf of birds but 

 also in behalf of bird students, who have 

 f oimd in him and his publications a guide and 

 instructor. 



We learn from the present publication 

 that nine pamphlets were issued by the 

 Division during the year. They deal with 

 such practical subjects as feeding appliances, 

 outdoor bird-study, Arbor and Bird Day, 

 bird-houses, and the like. Some were new, 

 others reprints or revised editions, and their 

 titles show that character of the stream of 

 information which has been flowing steadily 

 from Mr. Forbush's active pen. 



His 'Report,' which constitutes in effect the 

 thirteenth in the series, includes a general 

 statement of the status of international bird 

 protection, and the resiilts of researches on 

 the food habits of Woodpeckers in which it is 

 said that "on a whole, the Downy Wood- 

 pecker is one of the most beneficial birds of 

 New England, a persistent enemy of borers, 

 bark beetles, codling moths, and other de- 

 structive tree pests; and the Sapsucker, which 

 may be more or less destructive in the 

 northern forests, apparently does little 

 harm to orchards in Massachusetts." A 

 review of the bird-life of the year should be 

 both stimulating and useful to field-students, 

 and a preliminary report on an ornithological 

 survey of the State promises most interesting 

 results. A recommendation for the publi- 

 cation of a 1 200-page illustrated monograph 



(I 



on the birds of Massachusetts, by Mr. For- 

 bush, we are glad to learn has been approved, 

 and it is safe to predict that this work will 

 take its place in the front rank of state 

 documents on birds. — F. M. C. 



Annotated List of the Avery Bird Col- 

 lection IN the Alabama Museum of 

 Natural History. By Ernest G. Holt. 

 Biographical Sketch of Dr. William Cush- 

 man Avery, by his sister, Mary E. Avery. 

 University, Ala., 1921. 8vo, 142 pages; 

 frontispiece. 



The State authorities of Alabama are to be 

 thanked for publishing this account of the 

 life of a fellow-citizen of whom they have 

 reason to be proud, together with a record of 

 his contributions to our knowledge of Ala- 

 bama birds. The latter includes a list of the 

 216 species in his collection with often ex- 

 tended notes on their habits extracted from 

 his journals. — F. M. C. 



Bulletin of the Essex Ornithological 

 Club. Vol. HI. No. i, December, 1921; 

 Salem, Mass. 8vo, 88 pages, i plate, 

 I map. 



The editor of this publication, Arthur P. 

 Stubbs, reports that the Essex County 

 Ornithological Club has had a year of un- 

 usual activity. Its membership limit of 75 

 has been reached, it has purchased a camp, 

 and its meetings have been better attended 

 than in any previous year. 



In addition to a record of meetings, the 

 annual bird-list, notes etc., this Bulletin 

 contains papers on 'The Wild Turkey in New 

 England' by Glover M. Allen, with a map 

 showing that the bird reached the northern 

 limits of its range at the mouth of the Penob- 

 scot; 'The Status of Certain Ducks at Wen- 

 ham Lake,' by John C. Phillips; 'The Terns 

 of our Coast; a Retrospect and Prospect,' by 

 Charles W.Townsend,M.D.; 'How Much Do 

 Loons Use their Wings Under Water?' by 

 Edward Howe Forbush; 'Some Buzzard Bay 

 Birds,' by Winthrop Packard; and 'Changes 

 in the Essex County Avifauna,' by S. Gilbert 

 Emilio.— F. M. C. 



07) 



