Book News and Reviews 



183 



by J. Grinnell; and 'Anatomical Notes on 

 Some Genera of Passerine Birds,' i.e., 

 Saltator, Chlorophonia and Enphonia, are 

 furnished by H. L. Clark. 



The 'General Notes' department is well 

 filled, and several items assume almost 

 the proportions of brief local lists, while 

 that of 'Recent Literature' is crowded with 

 reviews and titles. In 'Correspondence,' 

 F. H. Allen has the last word (temporarily, 

 at least) on the concealing-coloration 

 question. 



Those who bind their Auks must not 

 forget the list of members issued with 

 this number. — J. D., Jr. 



The Condor. — Of the half-dozen ar- 

 ticles in the January number of 'The 

 Condor,' Dawson's 'A Glimpse of Surf- 

 birds' and Grinnell's 'Outlook for Con- 

 serving the Band- tailed Pigeon as a 

 Game Bird of California,' merit special 

 mention. The former, illustrated by six 

 excellent photographs, contains brief notes 

 on the Surf-bird near Santa Barbara. The 

 latter, accompanied by a map and bibliog- 

 raphy, is a comprehensive discussion of 

 the present status of the Band-tailed 

 Pigeon. It is rather curious that, in the 

 preparation of this paper for the California 

 Fish and Game Commission, to show the 

 necessity for protection of the bird, orni- 

 thological literature has been exhaustively 

 examined, while game-protective literature 

 has been ignored. Not a reference is given 

 to a non-ornithological publication, no 

 mention is made of former efforts to 

 protect the species, and among the fifty- 

 nine titles cited in the bibliography but 

 two or three relate to the destruction or 

 protection of the bird. Henderson's 

 'Concealing and Revealing Coloration of 

 Animals,' and Warren's 'Swallows and 

 Bedbugs,' contain contributions to sub- 

 jects of general interest. Of the two local 

 lists, Tyler's 'Notes on Some Fresno 

 County Birds' comprise observations on 

 six species, and Willett's 'Bird Notes from 

 the Coast of Northern Lower California' 

 contains brief remarks on 98 species ob- 

 served between San Diego and Cerros 

 Island, April 4-26, 191 2. In the Editorial 



Notes and News is a statement of the 

 work of the California Associated Societies 

 for the Conservation of Wild Life and a 

 Report of Progress' by Secretary W. P. 

 Taylor. 



The March number may fairly be termed 

 a 'Dawson Number,' since four of the six 

 main articles and most of the illustrations 

 are by W. L. Dawson, or relate to his 

 elaborate work on 'The Birds of California.' 

 The frontispiece is a most artistic colored 

 plate of the Dusky Warbler, reproduced 

 from a water-color painting by Allan 

 Brooks; there are also three special illus- 

 trations of Baird's Sandpiper, Long-billed 

 Dowitcher, and Bonaparte's Gull, from 

 photographs by Dawson, which will 

 appear in this work. Dawson contributes 

 an article on 'The Nesting of the Prairie 

 Falcon in San Luis Obispo County,' and a 

 biography of Allan Brooks. His own 

 biography is the subject of an article by 

 Swarth, and a new subspecies of Rosy 

 Finch (Leitcosticle tcphrocolis dawsoni) 

 from Whitney Meadows in the Southern 

 Sierra Nevada is described by Grinnell 

 and named in his honor. 



A remarkable account of 'The Great 

 Destruction of Birds' Eggs and Nestlings 

 in the Sierra Nevada,' near Cisco, in June, 

 1912, is given by A. M. Ingersoll. Of 140 

 nests belonging to 30 species which came 

 under observation, 20 were collected and 

 77 destroyed or broken up, leaving only a~ 

 possible 43 (some of which were not 

 examined) in which the young may have 

 been reared. The havoc which overtook 

 more than half the nests observed was 

 caused partly by Blue Jays and partly by 

 a cold rain, followed by sleet and wet snow, 

 on June 22 and 23. In the report by Wright 

 and Snyder on the 'Birds Observed in the 

 Summer of 191 2 among the Santa Barbara 

 Islands,' are several important records. 

 A colony of 300 to 400 California Brown 

 Pelicans was found nesting in Santa 

 Barbara Island, the third time this species 

 has been recorded as breeding in Cali- 

 fornia; Xantus' Murrelet was found nest- 

 ing on Santa Barbara and Anacapa; and 

 five Ashy Petrels were breeding on Santa 

 Cruz Island. — T. S. P. 



