64 



THE OOLOQI8T 



three upon which he said the old bird 

 sat for a long time but finally gave 

 up and left them. They were very 

 badly addled and weather stained but 

 not cracked as were many of the 

 others. 



The young gulls were nearly full 

 grown in size, but they were unable to 

 fly; some of them were so fat that 

 they seemed scarcely able to walk. 

 If they were near the shore when I 

 approached, they would make frantic 

 efforts to get into the water where 

 they seemed to be perfectly at ease. 

 If they could not get to the water, they 

 would skulk along the rocky bank or 

 hide in the grass and weeds. Those I 

 found hidden would allow themselves 

 to be rolled over and handled without 

 showing resistance other than to open 

 their mouths, somewhat like kittens 

 about to spit when they are molested. 



These notes may be of interest to 

 show the effect of protection upon 

 the gull colony. A few days ago I 

 found an article by A. H. Jordan in 

 the Ornithologist and Oologist for 

 September, 1888. In this article, Mr. 

 Jordan says that the colony had been 

 reduced at that time to fifty pairs by 

 the relentless persecution by farmers 

 and boys who carried away the eggs 

 by the basket full. He did not think 

 a single breed was reared the preced- 

 ing season. 



The Trumpeter Swan 

 Recently it has been supposed that 

 this, the most magnificent of North 

 American wild fowl, was extinct, and 

 it has approached very close to that 

 abyss. However, recently a small col- 

 ony of them are reported to have 

 been discovered in a secluded lake in 

 Canada, where they bred last sea- 

 son, and moving pictures of them were 

 taken. It is to be hoped that this 

 is true. — R.M.B. 



Exasperating! 



C. W. Chamberlain, of Boston, 

 writes that he is just back from a trip 

 to Cuba, Jamaica, Costa Rica, and 

 Panama, "but with not a moment to 

 look at Bird life, save from auto, 

 train or ship," which he says was ex- 

 asperating. We rather think so! 



R.M.B. 



Books Received 



"Birds of the Isle of Pines," by W. 

 E. Clyde Todd, — Annals of the Carne- 

 gie Museum, Vol. X, pages 146-296. 



This is an exhaustive annotated list 

 of the Birds of the Isle of Pines which 

 has been in preparation for a long 

 time and reviews the present known 

 status of 142 species and sub-species; 

 is accompanied by a bibliography cov- 

 ering the years 1854 to 1915 inclusive, 

 and is illustrated with ten half tone 

 plates and one map. 



This paper is a credit to Professor 

 Todd and shows an exhaustive re- 

 search; not the least interesting por- 

 tion of it being the bibliography of 

 each species, showing that a very 

 large proportion of the recorded 

 knowledge relating to the birds of 

 this island fauna is derived from A. C. 

 Read's contributions to The Oologist. 

 While it would not be strictly accur- 

 ate to say that there are more refer- 

 ences in this paper to Mr. Read's pub- 

 lished notes relative to the birds of 

 the Isle of Pines than to all other 

 publications combined, referred to 

 therein, yet such statement would not 

 be very wide of the mark. 



We congratulate Professor Todd 

 upon the thoroughness of this produc- 

 tion and also our friend Read upon 

 the frequency with which he is quoted 

 therein. 



