Book News and Reviews 



■i7 



midwinter in the High Sierra, and enume- 

 rates nine species which are resident at that 

 season. Two other papers complete the list 

 of general articles: under the title 'Explan- 

 atory,' Belding gives some unpublished notes 

 collected nearly twenty years ago, during 

 the preparation of his 'Land Birds of the 

 Pacific District'; and Hanna concludes his 

 brief remarks on Nevada Birds. Among 

 the notes 'From Field and Study,' W. K. 

 Fisher records the interesting fact that 

 in March, 1904, several Black-footed Al- 

 batrosses were observed executing their 

 peculiar dance on the surface of the water 

 about 100 miles at sea off San Diego, Cal. 

 This interesting performance was first fully 

 described in Fisher's ' Birds of Laysan 

 Island,' and in his article in ' Fhe Auk' 

 for January 1904, pp, 11-14. — T. S. P. 



Wilson Bulletin. — The contents of 

 "•Wilson Bulletin ' No. 47, which has 

 appeared since our last review, is as follows : 

 'Some Birds of Olympia, Wash.', J. M. 

 Keck; 'All Day with the Birds,' 'Ober- 

 lin all Day with the Birds,' Lynds Jones; 

 'An All-Day Bird Study,' B. H. Wilson; 

 'The Song of the Dickcissel,' P. M. Sil- 

 loway ; 'Spring Migration in Lorain 

 County, Ohio, 1904,' Lynds Jones, and 'A 

 Door-yard List from Morton Park, III.,' 

 O. M. Schantz. 



J. M. Keck includes 117 species in his 

 list of the birds of Olympia, Wash., which 

 is the result of occasional observations during 

 the period between September i and Mays. 

 In connection with this paper it might be of 

 interest to consult that of S. F. Rathbone, 

 who has studied the birds of Seattle (Auk, 

 1902, pp. 131-141 ), a locality situated a lit- 

 tle to the northward on the sound. The 

 migration during the past spring was of 

 unusual interest, since vast numbers of 

 species, far in excess of average seasons, 

 swept northward over the country during 

 the second and third weeks of May. As a 

 consequence, most observers who were in 

 the field for the purpose of being 'all day 

 with the birds' were fortunate in seeing 

 large numbers. The most remarkable list 

 on account of the length, and one which 

 any single observer will have difficulty in 



equaling, is that of Lynds Jones, who, be- 

 tween 3 :3o A. .\i. and 6 :3o v. m. on May 9, 

 identified 128 species in the vicinity of 

 Oberlin, Ohio. With the possible exception 

 of Southern Illinois and the Lower Hudson 

 Valley, we know of no other locality where 

 such a list could be formed. — A. K. F. 



Bulletin of the Michican Ornitho- 

 logical Club. — In the June number of the 

 Bulletin, B. H. Swales completes his 'List 

 of the Land Birds of Southeastern Michi- 

 gan,' recording 165 species in all. Other 

 papers are 'Some Notes on the Life History 

 of the American Redstart,' by J. C. Wood,, 

 and ' Birds in Decoration,' A. H. Griffith. 

 There are numerous notes of interest from 

 field and museum, while a page is devoted 

 to the work of the Michigan Audubon 

 Society. An editorial announces the prepa- 

 ration, by Prof. W. B. Barrows, of a tnew 

 list of the birds of Michigan. — W. S. 



Book News 



' The Destruction of Birds by the Ele- 

 ments in 1903 - 04,' by Edward Howe 

 Forbush, occupies pages 457-503 of the 

 Fifty-first Annual Report of the Massachu- 

 setts State Board of Agriculture. It con- 

 tains a large amount of valuable data, mosf 

 of which, but for Mr. Forbush's well-di- 

 rected efforts, would have escaped permanent 

 record . 



In the ' Bulletin ' of the New York Zoo- 

 logical Society (No. 14, July, 1904). under 

 the heading ' A Dangerous Exponent of 

 Nature,' Mr. W. T. Hornaday, Director of 

 the Society, characterizes Mr. William J. 

 Long as "the most visionary writer who has 

 ever appeared before the American public 

 in the guise of a naturalist." 



' Our Animal Friends ' continues to pub- 

 lish many articles of special interest to bird 

 students. The July number of this maga- 

 zine contains several bird drawings, by 

 Robert J. Sim, which deserve more than 

 passing commendation. 



A revised and enlarged edition of Wal- 

 ters" ' Wild Birds in City Parks ' has been 

 issued by the publisher, A. W. Mumford. 

 It is announced that 8,500 copies of this 

 useful work have been printed. 



