Book News and Reviews 



171 



Black-crowned Night Herons, with numerous 

 illustrations, and his photographs of Little 

 Blue Herons and American Egrets, the 

 former of which, in immature or white 

 plumage, appear to be surprisingly common 

 about Washington in the late summer. — 

 F. M. C. 



The Inheritance of Song in Passerine 

 Birds. By W. E. D.Scott. Science, June 

 24, 1904, p. 957; August 26, 1904, p. 282. 



Mr. Scott here presents another of his 

 careful studies of individual birds with par- 

 ticular relation to the inheritance of song. 

 The species treated are the Rose-breasted 

 Grosbeak and Meadowlark, broods of both 

 of which were reared by hand isolated from 

 other birds of their kind. The details of 

 Mr. Scott's observations are exceedingly in- 

 teresting, and his papers should be consulted 

 by those interested in the subject of inheri- 

 tance of nest-building ability as well as of 

 song. Here we have only space to say that 

 neither Grosbeaks nor Meadowlarks devel- 

 oped the song of their species, but were 

 both influenced by the notes of other species 

 within their hearing; the former by an In- 

 dian Bulbul, the song of which they ac- 

 quired so exactly that it was difficult "to 

 tell which species was singing," the latter 

 by the European Blackbird. 



Students of the molt in birds, in reading 

 Mr. Scott's statement that he is "strongly 

 inclined to the opinion that there is a 

 physical change in the feather itself, which 

 alters its appearance so far as color is con- 

 cerned," will wish that he would give at 

 length the grounds on which this opinion is 

 based.— F. M. C. 



The Ornithological Magazines 



The Auk. — 'The Auk' for July fur- 

 nishes an unusual amount of profitable 

 reading, and those of a speculative turn of 

 mind will enjoy 'A Discussion of the 

 Origin of Migration' by P. A. Taverner, 

 as well as 'The Origin and Distribution 

 of the Chestnut-backed, Chickadee' by J. 

 Cirinnell. It is Mr. Taverner's theory, 

 perhaps not altogether a new one, that 

 migration originated because certain areas, 

 already fully peopled with birds, overflowed 



when, with the advent of the nesting season 

 these areas failed to afford an ade(]uate food 

 supply for the additional young birds. 

 This was the cause of spring migration, and 

 diminution of food in the fall gradually 

 drove the overflow back into winter quar- 

 ters, limited by the supporting powers of the 

 land. Mr. Grinnell's article is perhaps the 

 most serious of its kind yet offered by a 

 biological ornithologist of the modern 

 school. The Chestnut-backed and the Hud- 

 sonian Titmouse are here derived from a 

 common ancestor, of which each was a geo- 

 graphical race until isolation took place. 

 The former now appears to have further 

 differentiated into three races, and all of 

 these hypothetical derivations are nicely 

 shown by a map. The reader should re- 

 member, however, that with a corner-stone 

 of hypothesis, a structure of graceful pro- 

 portions may be more fanciful than real. 



A classification of the Tyrannids accord- 

 ing to anatomical and other biological 

 characters is advocated by H. Von Ihering, 

 and J. A. Allen illustrates the follies of 

 synonymy by the word 'Catharacta' spelled 

 in eight different ways. In lighter vein are 

 extracts from an unpublished journal of 

 Audubon's by R. Deane, while W. W. 

 Cooke and E. H. Eaton furnish some notes 

 on migration. An annotated list of the 

 birds of the upper Pecos River, New 

 Mexico, is written in Mrs. F. M. Bailey's 

 pleasant style, but we regret to see "Baird 

 Sparrow,' 'Virginia Warbler,' etc., ad- 

 mitted to the 'Auk' instead of the posses- 

 sive case being used. Evolution may some 

 day eliminate the 's' as unfit, but except 

 in geography it is still customary to write 

 English as 'she is wrote.' 



A thirteenth supplement to the A. O. U. 

 Check-List closes the magazine, in which 

 other matters of interest will be found be- 

 sides the ones touched upon so briefly. — 

 J. D., Jr. 



Book News 

 Mr. H. E. Dresser has issued a prospec- 

 tus of his forthcoming work on 'The Eggs 

 of the Birds of Europe.' details of which 

 may be obtained from the author at 3 Han- 

 over Square, London, W. 



