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Bird - Lore 



certain rectifications — virtually none of 

 them new — in the status of certain forms 

 of North American birds; a new species of 

 Seaside Sparrow (Thryospiza mirabilis) 

 from Florida is described by A. H. Howell 

 and several new birds from South America 

 by Chas. B. Cory, but the exact details of 

 these purely scientific matters can scarcely 

 be of vital interest to the average reader 

 of Bird-Lore, and the reviewer feels that 

 they should here be passed over with 

 briefest comment. 



'The Thirty-sixth Stated Meeting of the 

 A.O.U.' is statistically written up by T. S. 

 Palmer. It was wholly a business affair 

 because of the prevalence of the influenza 

 epidemic at that time of the year. 



It may be worthy of note that, owing to 

 printing difficulties, for which the editor 

 was in no wise responsible, the January 

 'Auk' was a fortnight late in publication, 

 thereby breaking all previous records ! 



In the April number so many cross- 

 currents of opinion are in evidence that no 

 review can do justice to the authors of the 

 various articles. An obituary of Mrs. Olive 

 Thorn Miller, by Florence M. Bailey, re- 

 minds us that Mrs. Miller was among the 

 pioneers of those who have contributed so 

 much and so well to the hosts of books on 

 popular ornithology. 



A. D. Dubois writes of 'An Experience 

 with Horned Grebes (Colymbus aiiritus) in 

 Montana' describing with minuteness his 

 observations on a nesting pair of these 

 birds which may be seen in some excellent 

 half-tones; Harry Harris, in 'Historical 

 Notes on Harris's Sparrow (Zonotrichia 

 qtierula)' brings together some of the early 

 and late history of this species; W. H. 

 Bergtold discusses the status of 'The Crow 

 in Colorado'; and H. F. Lewis presents in- 

 teresting notes on 'Winter Robins in Nova 

 Scotia.' 



E. T. Seton, writing 'On Popular Names 

 of Birds,' advocates a somewhat eclectic 

 method of obtaining appropriate ones, 

 which, after all, merely emphasizes the 

 fact that language is always in process of 

 evolution, and so the popular name of 

 today may or may not be the name of 

 tomorrow. 



L. M. Loomis believes in 'The Reality 

 of Bird Species,' but realities and opinions 

 are somewhat mixed. J. T. Nichols, in 

 'Problems Suggested by Nests of Warblers 

 of the Genus Dendroica,' rests his hypo- 

 theses on rather slender assumption, inter- 

 esting though they be, for we do know that 

 birds of the same species make different 

 nests in different localities, and that con- 

 cealment is a very relative matter after all. 

 In A. Wetmore's 'Notes on the Structure 

 of the Palate in the Ideridae,' the question 

 arises as to how important as a generic 

 character the palatal keel really is; in J. 

 Dwight's 'Reasons for Discarding a Pro- 

 posed Race of the Glaucous Gull {Lams 

 ■hypcrboreus)' there is raised a similar ques- 

 tion as to subspecific values, and A. C. 

 Bent, in 'Geographical Variation in the 

 Black-throated Loons,' questions the 

 actual relationship of these birds. They 

 are all controversial matters of opinion 

 rather than of fact. 



In addition to the above technical papers, 

 is one by T. E. Penard, reviewing Beebe's 

 'Tropical Wild Life'; one by C. B. Cory, 

 describing new birds from South America, 

 and one by H. C. Oberholser, bringing to- 

 gether a long list of prospective changes in 

 the A.O.U. Check-List. 



'The Birds of Red Deer River, Alberta,' 

 by P. A. Taverner, is brought to a con- 

 clusion, and a map of the trip is included. 

 The virtual abandonment of the use of 

 trinomials in this list calls down criticism 

 from W. Stone (page 317) who feels pessi- 

 mistic about the future of nomenclature 

 which he thinks "is now bearing about all 

 the burdens it will stand." There is com- 

 fort, however, in the thought that many 

 other things in the world today are in 

 much the same position. 



The death of Dr. Frederick DuCane 

 Godman, a veteran of the A.O.U. Honor- 

 ary Fellows, is a matter of more than 

 passing interest. — J. D. 



Bluebird has begun its eleventh volume 

 with the December, 1918, number as a 

 quarto instead of an octavo. The cover 

 design is also different. — J. T. N. 



