174 



Bird -Lore 



from his notes by Mr. Brewster. Such 

 accurate and precise observations are to 

 be commended as models for the younger 

 generation of bird lovers to follow. 



We are taken afield in South America 

 by Mr. S. N. Rhoads, in his 'Birds of the 

 IParamo of Central Ecuador,' and we read, 

 too, 'A last Word on the Passenger 

 Pigeon,' by Prof. C. F. Hodge. A some- 

 what speculative paper by Dr. S. F. 

 Trotter on 'The Relation of Genera to 

 Faunal Areas' claims attention. One by 

 IDr. C. W. Townsend on 'The Validity 

 lof the Red-legged Subspecies of Black 

 Duck' tells of some Ducks in captivity. 

 The distressing conditions that prevail in 

 'foreign countries, where all sorts of small 

 ibirds are sold for food in the markets, 

 :are set forth by Dr. L. B. Bishop, under 

 title of 'Birds in Markets of Southern 

 Europe.' Song birds are sold like vegetables, 

 -strung together in bunches. 



A fine illustration of what a bog priority 

 is for the professional ornithologist is 

 •afforded in Mr. S. N. Rhoads' 'Additions 

 Uo the Known Ornithological Publications 

 'of C. S. Rafinesque.' A couple of num- 

 bers of an old magazine, 'The Cosmonist,' 

 Diave been unearthed, one containing an 

 earlier name for the Cliff Swallow, and 

 the other an earlier name for the genus 

 Hydrochelidon, and misspelled at that! 

 There are said to be eighteen other miss- 

 ing numbers suspended like the sword of 

 Damocles above the heads of the nomen- 

 claturists. There is also professional food 

 for reflection in Mr. Witmer Stone's com- 

 ments on 'Vroeg's Catalogue.' 



Prof. H. L. Clark's 'Notes on the Lay- 

 san Finch' are chiefly pterylogical and 

 anatomical. Mr. W. L. McAfee discusses 

 'Certain Phases of the Theory of Recog- 

 nition Marks,' pointing out how easily 

 birds of supposedly keen eyesight are 

 decoyed by the crudest devices. Dr. D. E. 

 Wheeler offers 'Notes on the Spring Mi- 

 gration at Timber Line, north of Great 

 Slave Lake,' a region little known save 

 to trappers and Indians; hence the sketch 

 map accompanying the paper is of value. 

 Mr. C. H. Kennedy has 'Further Notes 

 on the Fruit-eating Habits of the Sage 



Thrasher in the Yakima Valley, Wash- 

 ington,' and Mr. John E. Thayer gives 

 the history of some of the 'Great Auk 

 Eggs in the Thayer Museum,' together 

 with a half-tone of one of them. 



'An Apparently Unrecognized Race of 

 the Red-shouldered Hawk' is described 

 by Dr. L. B. Bishop, and named Buteo 

 Uneatiis texanus. 



The Notes and Reviews are particu- 

 larly full, and we are glad to see an effort 

 made to index the contents of the ornith- 

 ological Journals of all countries. Those 

 who bind their Auks should take notice 

 that the annual list of officers and mem- 

 bers appears in this number. — J. D., Jr. 



The Condor. — The March number 

 of 'The Condor' contains only three 

 general articles. The first and most 

 extended is entitled 'A Week Afield in 

 Southern Arizona,' by F. C. Willard. This 

 paper, which is illustrated with seven text 

 figures of nests and nesting-sites, gives the 

 experiences of an egg-collecting trip in the 

 region between Tombstone and Tucson 

 during the latter part of May, 191 1. 



Mailliard's article on ''Passerella stephensi 

 in Marin County,' which contains the re- 

 sults of a critical examination of a series 

 of specimens, shows that Stephens' Fox 

 Sparrow, instead of being confined to South- 

 ern California, breeds in the Sierras as far 

 north as Tulare County, and occasionally 

 wanders north in winter to Marin County, 

 opposite the upper end of San Francisco 

 '■'Bay. Ray's account of the 'Nesting of the 

 Canada Goose, at Lake Tahoe,' is a 

 welcome contribution to knowledge. 



At the meeting of the Northern Division 

 of the Cooper Club, held in January, a 

 'Committee on the Conservation of Wild 

 Life' was appointed as one of the perma- 

 nent committees of the club, and a state- 

 ment outlining its work has been prepared 

 by its chairman, W. P. Taylor. Created 

 for the purpose of cooperating with other 

 organizations and stimulating public in- 

 terest in the protection of wild life, this 

 committee has a wide and important 

 field before it, and is in a position to take 

 up some of the broader problems of game 

 conservation on the Pacific coast. — T. S. P 



