io8 



Bird - Lore 



The Ornithological Magazines 



'I'll I') Auk. The .Tanuary, 1922, niinilx-r, 

 whirli l)0)j;ins llic (liirly-ninlh volume of 

 The Aiik (llic I'orly sc'vcnlli, witli Ilic 

 'Hiillclin of (111- Nii((;i,ll OinidioIoKical Cliil),' 

 of wliicli i( is a, contimialion) opens willi 'in 

 ]Vlemoria,in: Joel Asa,i)li Allen,' by I''. M. 

 (!liaj)ma,n, wilh fr(inlisi)iec.e, ])or(rail; i)liol.()- 

 Ki-apli. As lOdilor of The Auk, Dr. Allen 

 was Hie pilol, of a, publication which for so 

 loiiK has carried forward the genius of Amer- 

 ican t)rniMiology. Though he had the satis- 

 fa,ction of surrendering the helm to other able 

 ha,nds several years before his death, The 

 A Ilk will remain, a.mong other things, a. 

 monument (which he would appreciale) lo 

 his interest and work in ornithology. "II 

 is impossible to consider Dr. Allen's career 

 without feeling that few meu have more 

 nearly and more happily a])proached the full 

 nu-asure of their potential achievements." 



C. W. and lOnid Micluiel record detailed 

 beha.vior st udies of a. mated pair of I larlequin 

 Ducks, evidently lu-sting, in the Yosi'mile 

 Valley, Calif., though the nest could not be 

 found. These Ducks were particularly fond 

 of bread, and by means of a. floating food- 

 tray remarkable photographs (two full page 

 l)la.tes) of tills lieatilifui, bi/arrely colori'd 

 bird we.e obtained. 



'A Myrtle Warbler Invasion,' by ('. I.. 

 Whittle, records a remarkable concent rat ion 

 of tiie bird moving northward through the 

 outer coastal wax myrtle bi'lt near Charleston 

 harbor, S. C, 2.|ooo indixiduals (i^stimaled) 

 being observed at oiu> point . 



"What birds can be satisfacloril>' ident ilu'd 

 in the lield?" — "When is a. sight reiord of 

 scientitic value?" These an- (|iieslions of 

 interest to bin! lovers and to inodcin orni- 

 thologists who must sui)pienuMit a, knowledge 

 of the dead bin! witli that of theliving. They 

 are ;i.bly discussed by laidlow (Iriscom in 

 'i'roblems of i''ield Indentilication,' from the 

 point of view of tiie i)rofessional ornithologist, 

 and also of the amateur obser\'er. llis i)api'r 

 should lie gixeii serious consideration by 

 everybody (.though i'vi'i\i)od>' will not agree 

 with all its details), for nowhere else in llie 

 tield of scii'iice is the personal etpiation more 

 constantly to be laced and reckoiuxl witli 

 than in such matters. 



'A Calendar of IJird Migration,' by Norman 

 (Griddle, refers to a locality in Manitoba, and 

 is based on twenty-five years' observation 

 summarized in tabular form. 'Sup])lc- 

 menta.ry Notes on the Birds of Berkshire 

 County, Ma,ssachusetts,' by Walter Faxon 

 and KaJph Hoffman, gives faunal data on 

 some 47 species. "The I'-uropean Starling 

 is now generally distributed as a perma- 

 nent resident through the Ilousatonic 

 Valley towns." 'i^ird Distribution in Eastern 

 Kentucky,' by R. 1'". Horsey, lists 84 

 speci("s. 



C. J. Hawkins in 'Sexual Selection and 

 Mird Songs' discusses a, fascinating subject, 

 one which, it seems to the reviewer, would be 

 el uci( kited by a better knowledge of the doubt- 

 K'ss several functions of a, bird's song. 

 Hawkins would have us believe that tenden- 

 cies to a variation in song simultaneously 

 effect numerous inciividuals in a given area 

 and are fixed by isolation as physical, racial 

 characters doubtless often are. In 'Notes on 

 Tubinares,' R. C. IVIur])hy calls attention to 

 a first North American record of the Yellow- 

 nosed Mollyinawk, a wanderer from the 

 southern ocean; to the fact tlial the Medi- 

 terranean as well as Azorian, etc., race of 

 Cory's Shearwater has been taken off Long 

 Island, N. Y.; and to what is known oi the 

 range of Hornby's Petrel, recently found to be 

 common olT Peru, and jM'obably not entitled 

 to a North American status, even as a wan- 

 derer. H. C. Oberholser concludes that (he 

 Long-ea.red Owl, and the Snowy Plovers of 

 till' Pacific Coast, are but geographic races of 

 species found in both the Old and New World; 

 a.n(l that Hutton's and Anthony's Vireos are 

 indistinguishable even as races. Other papers 

 are 'A New Burrowing Owl from Colombia,' 

 (Stone), 'Thirty-ninth Stated Meeting of the 

 American Ornitiiologists llnion,' and 'Re- 

 port of the Secretary [of the A. O. U.]' 

 (Palmer). 



'Ceneral Notes' contain a variety of items, 

 mostly of faunal interest. McAtee supplies 

 data on the food of the Guacharo or Oil-bird, 

 remarkable a-mong birds allied to the Goat- 

 suckers in being a fruit-cater; and there is 

 interesting matter on the habits of the Short- 

 l)illed Marsh Wren near Montreal, Canada, 

 bv P. McI.Terrill. !.'!'. N. 



