Publications Reviewed 99 



turn seem to be connected, with the 10, primaried Sturnidse 

 through the nineprimaried form Paramythia montium from 

 New Guinea. One feels like creating a Superfamily of all the 

 conirostral Oscines, separating them into nineprimaried and ten- 

 primaried subfamilies, taking into consideration and emphasizing 

 the points they have in common more than the points of differen- 

 tiation. We remember that in our boyhood days in our parochial 

 school in Missouri we were taught out of some ancient German 

 Natural History that the Songbirds were divided into 6 families: 

 dentirostral, conirostral, fissirostral, pegbilled, thinbilled birds 

 and the Corvidse, and are we after all so very far removed from 

 these viewpoints in these days of modern classification? However, 

 it behooves us to strive for the truth and for accuracy in science 

 to the best of our ability and our understanding and we do well 

 if we do tJiis, no matter what our name may be. 



As far as the treatment of North and Middle American birds 

 is concerned we understand Dr. Reichenow when he says it would 

 be impossible to treat all the forms, still some omissions and er- 

 rors could have been avoided. The placing of Myiadestes and 

 Bombycilla among the Muscicapidse might be forgiven, but not the 

 placing of certain Tanagerforms among the Mniotiltidse and to 

 put Vireosylva in the same family is nonsense! Among the Tyran- 

 nidse the Genus Empidonax should have come in for at least 10 

 to 20 lines and similar remarks hold true in other cases, as for 

 instance, the Troglodytinae. The whole Sylviidge group of Dr. 

 Reichenow is rather an unfortunate one anyhow. The description 

 of Oporornis formosa is wrong and could only apply to the female 

 of the Wilson's Warbler. The name of the Chat must read Icteria 

 virens and so we might go on and find more errors. But all these 

 minor errors will not detract from the value of the work, which 

 certainly is what it set out to be a "Handbook" a handy manual. 

 That we find such errors and misstatements in regard to North 

 American birds is due to the fact that in the Berlin Museum and 

 practically all the German Museums our birds are but poorly rep- 

 resented and I can show the proof for this statement in writing 

 from the hands of the Dir, of the Royal Zoological Museum. / 

 Hence we must bear with them in a spirit of kindness and hope 

 that these conditions will improve so that in the future we Amer- 

 icans can receive our just dues. W. F. H. 



The Winter Bird Life of Mits-nesota. By Thomas S. Roberts. 

 Fins-Feathers and Fur. Official Bulletin of the Minnesota Game 

 and Fish Department. No. 4. December, 1915. 



This is the title of a very complete list of the birds which have 



