Book News and Reviews 



71 



record of the past year may be taken as a 

 guarantee of the standard for 1904. This 

 is certainly very satisfactory as far as illus- 

 trations are concerned, if the frontispiece of 

 the California Vulture from a drawing by 

 Fuertes and the half-tones from Beck's 

 photographs of Galapagos Island birds are 

 samples of the illustrations which are to 

 follow. 



Under the title. Afield at Flathead,' 

 Silloway contributes some interesting notes 

 on several birds, and reports on the condi- 

 tion of the colony of Holboell's Grebes at 

 Swan Lake during the past summer. Mail- 

 liard publishes some important records sup- 

 plementary to Cjrinnell's 'Check List of 

 California Birds," and includes the first rec- 

 ord of the occurrence of the Rusty Black- 

 bird (Scolecophagus carolinus) in the state. 

 Swarth discusses the subspecies of Cactus 

 Wrens which have been recently described, 

 and also records the capture of a Scott's 

 Oriole in the San Fernando Valley on 

 November 2, 1903. Under the name of 

 Ki'i^u/us caleruiula cineraceits Grinnell de- 

 scribes the Ruby-crowned Kinglet from 

 Mt. Wilson, Los Angeles county, Cal., as 

 a new subspecies. The number closes with 

 a 'Directory of Members of the Cooper 

 Ornithological Club,' from which it appears 

 that the Club now has about 200 members 

 and since its organization has lost 13 mem- 

 bers by death. — T. S. P. 



Bulletin oh the Michigan Ornitho- 

 logical Club. — Four quarterly numbers of 

 the revived ' Michigan Bulletin ' have been 

 issued, completing Volume IV. These are 

 creditably edited and contain many valuable 

 contributions, relating mainly to the orni- 

 thology of the state which the Club repre- 

 sents. 



Perhaps the most important paper in the 

 June number is that by Mr. A. B. Covert, 

 on 'The Recent Capture of a Kirtland's 

 Warbler in Michigan,' and several supple- 

 mentary notes describing the discovery of 

 the nest and eggs of this rare bird by N. A. 

 Wood. In the September number, besides 

 several papers dealing with the nesting of 

 various birds in the state, we have an in- 

 teresting reminiscence by Mr. James B. 



Purdy on ' The Passenger Pigeon in the 

 Early Days of Michigan,' in which he de- 

 scribes the methods of trapping these birds 

 in vogue during his boyhood. 



In the December number of the Bulletin 

 Mr. J. Warren Jacobs contributes some 

 supplementary ' Purple Martin Notes,' from 

 Waynesburg, Pa., while E. G. Mummery 

 writes of the ' Nesting of the White-breasted 

 Nuthatch,' and Edw. Arnold on the Sand- 

 hill Crane. Numerous shorter notes testify 

 to the activity of the Club.— W. S. 



Journal of the Maine Ornithological 

 Society. — The January number marks the 

 beginning of Vol. VI, under the editorship 

 of Mr. J. Merton Swain. The Journal has 

 been largely devoted to local ornithology 

 and has increased in size and importance 

 since the organization of the Society. Mr. 

 A. H. Norton continues his ' Notes on 

 Maine Finches,' while an account of the 

 eighth annual meeting of the Society, sev- 

 eral popular articles and some local notes 

 make up the number. 



It would seem particularly desirable that 

 the various journals now issued by local 

 ornithological clubs should, — as they do in 

 a measure, — devote themselves exclusively 

 to the birds of their own or immediately ad- 

 joining states. They thus acquire a pecu- 

 liar value in our ornithological literature 

 and have a definite function to fulfil. — 

 W. S. 



We take pleasure in announcing that Mr. 

 Witmer Stone has joined Bird-Lore's force 

 of reviewers. 



The November, 1903, issue of the Bulle" 

 tin of the New York Public Library (VII, 

 II, pp. 407-446) contains a series of letters 

 written by Sir Charles Blagden to Sir 

 Joseph Banks, while the former, as an offi- 

 cer in the British Navy, was stationed at 

 Charleston, Reedy Island, Delaware, New 

 York and Newport during the Revolution. 

 These letters contain much interesting 

 natural history material, and an annotated 

 list of specimens, chiefly of birds and fish 

 collected in Rhode Island, is of genuine 

 scientific value. 



