THE NIDIOLOGIST 



and sa)' : " That white man came all the way 

 from the big village [Omaha] on the big, muddy 

 water [Missouri River] to hunt for birds' eggs." 

 Of course this was unintelligible to me, but the 

 ranchman's wife could talk Sioux like a native, 

 and she translated it for me. 



Many of the Indians could talk good Eng- 

 lish, and I was much pleased to find that nearly 

 all of them have a very good knowledge of the 

 breeding habits of birds. One old buck de- 

 scribed to me where I would find a nest of " the 

 little Duck with blue on the wings," as he called 

 it, and he was much pleased when I told him 

 that the blue wings were one of the distinguish- 

 ing features of this bird. 



I took a horse and cart, and went after the 

 Teal's nest, located for me by the old Indian, 

 and soon returned with a beautiful set of nine 

 slightly incubated eggs. This nest was built 

 the same as the others of this species, but was 

 over two hundred yards from the lake, and in 

 the middle of the wagon road leading to the 

 Rosebud Agency. 



As the season was too far advanced to secure 

 good specimens I packed up, and after making 

 arrangements for a longer stay next year, started 

 for home after a stay of two weeks. While the 

 results of my trip were not very rich as regards 

 specimens, still I saw so many young of the dif- 

 ferent species, such as Kildeer, Wilson's Pha- 

 larope, and many others, that I had a great deal 

 of pleasure in watching and studying the birds 

 when caring for their young, and I know my 

 next trip to that country will have much better 

 results. IsADOR S. Trostler. 



Omaha, Neb. 



CPublicitions for review should be sent to Dr. R. W. Suupeldt, 

 Associate in Zoology, Smithsoni.-in Institution, Wasiiington, D. C] 



MlVART, St. George, F.R.S. On the Hyoid Bone in 

 Certain Parrots. Proc. Zoological Society of Lon- 

 don. IWarch, 1895. Pp. 162-174. [From the autlior,] 



Blasius, Prof. Dr. R. Ornis. VIII Jaiir, Heft 

 III. Brunswick. 1S95. Pp. 213-344. 



Fisher, A. K. Hawks and Owls from the Standpoint 

 of the Farmer. [Reprinted from the Year Book of 

 the U. S. Dept. of Agricul. for 1S94.] Washington. 

 1895. Pp. 215-232. 



BDttikofer, J. A Revision of the Genus Tiirdinus 

 and Genera Allied to it, with an Enumeration of the 

 Specimens Contained in the Leyden Museum. [Note 

 xiv.] Vol. xvii. Pp. 65-106. [From the author.] 



Bendire, Chas. The Co-obirds. E.Kt. Report U. S. 

 Nat. Museum for 1893. Pp. 587-624. Pis. 1-3. 

 Washington. 1895 (govt.). [From the author.] 



Luc.\s, F. A. The Tongues of Woodpeckers. Reprint 

 Bull. No. 7. Div. Orn. and Mamm. U. S. Dept. 

 Agricul. Washington. 1895 (govt.). [From the j 

 author.] ■ 



Lucas, F. A. The Weapons and Wings of Birds. 

 Rep. U. S. Nat. Mus. (Reprint) 1893. 'Pp. 653-663. 

 Plate I, figs. 1-8. Washington. 1895 (govt.). 

 [From the author.] 



Recreation. Vol. iii, No. 3. September, 1895. 



The Observer. Vol. vi, No. 8. August, 1895. 



The Oregon Naturalist. Vol. ii, No. 9. September, 



1895- 

 Popular Science A^ews. October, 1895. 

 The American Field. September, 1895. 

 Forest and Stream. September, 1895. 

 Shooting and Fishing. September, 1895. 



It will be the plan of the review department here- 

 after to give as above the publications received. .Some 

 of these may be sent by the authors to myself indi- 

 vidually, as all in the above list were, or else they 

 may be received through the usual methods of ex- 

 change with the NiDlOLOGiST. So far as space will 

 admit, works received by the editors of this jour- 

 nal will be either noticed or more or less elaborately 

 reviewed in this place. 



Miv.VRT, On the Hyoid Bone in Certain Parrots. As 

 the author of this very useful paper remarks, "Dis- 

 tinctive structural characters are so much needed for 

 the classification of birds, that I think the following 

 descriptions and illustrations of some skeletal struc- 

 tures which, as far as I know, are now described and 

 figured for the first time, will not be unwelcome to 

 Ornithologists if not to other naturalists also ; " and, 

 following this general biological truism, he at once 

 proceeds to enumerate some of the works of those 

 who, in times past, have turned their attention to the 

 study of the bones of the tongue in Parrots. Taking 

 next Psittacus erithacus as his type of Parrot struc- 

 ture our author compares the bony tongue parts of 

 that form with the corresponding ones of three gen- 

 era of Lories and with that of the genus Stringofs. 

 As a preface to this comparison it is shown how the 

 skeletal characters of the hyoidean apparatus of the 

 entire group of Parrots are distinctive, and differ with 

 similar structures in other groups. 



Some very excellent figures are given, and in con- 

 clusion Professor Mivart expresses his opinion to the 

 effect that the Owl Parrot (Stringops) is a peculiar 

 psittacine type with no affinities whatever for the Lo- 

 riidte, and quite distinct from Psittaciis. And finally, 

 that the latter and the genus Loriiis are also very dif- 

 ferent. R. W. S. 



Fisher. On the Hawks and Owls from the Stand- 

 point of the Farmer. This very excellent contribution 

 to economic Ornithology is illustrated by three full- 

 page plates and four text figures portraying several 

 species of Hawks and Owls. The subject considered 

 is dealt with in Dr. Fisher's usual careful manner, 

 being full, clear, concise, and to the point. It deals 

 principally with the (i) cause of the prejudice against 

 birds of prey ; (2) some characteristics of rapacious 

 birds ; (3) food habits of the principal birds of prey; 

 (4) harmless species of Hawks and Owls; (5) wholly 

 beneficial Hawks; (6) Hawks and Owls mostly ben- 

 eficial; and (7) harmful Hawks and Owls. 



Works of this character are sure in time to accom- 

 plish a great deal of good, especially after the more 



