THE OOLOGIST 



51 



In my ouinion, a man may be par- 

 doned for refusing to exchange for a 

 nest of worm-eating warbler at $1.80 — 

 according to Taylor's rates, when he 

 can get a nest of Yellow Warbler, a 

 much more handsome nest, for $.05. 

 In such case, the plea of exchanging 

 for the sake of new types, and collect- 

 ing only for the knowledge gained, 

 both purposes which every collector 

 should pursue, should not be of any 

 influence. A man would not pay $1.50 

 in exchange for a set of Robin's eggs 

 because they varied .01 of an inch 

 from the average; only in the case of 

 unusual markings, runt eggs, a large 

 set, or something of the sort would be 

 worth an abnormal price. Some eggs 

 appear to be priced too low, and some, 

 according to Messrs. Lattin's and 

 Short's catalogues, too high, and so 

 with the nests. If a Humming bird 

 should build in an unusual site the 

 nest would naturally be worth more 

 for its oddity. 



To correct these conditions, I would 

 suggest a common basis, understood 

 by all, for the exchange of nests. In 

 the example I cited of the worm-eating 

 Warbler and the Yellow Warbler's 

 nest, I did not consider the compara- 

 tive rarity, of the eggs, I only wanted 

 to give an example of a rather un- 

 attractive nest in comparison with an 

 attractive one. I think a Black Rail's 

 nest is not worth $12.00 and a Bush- 

 tit's, a much harder nest to pack and 

 also more interesting, only $.25. In 

 conclusion, I should say that two of 

 the needs of Oologists now are, an 

 established basis for the exchange of 

 nests, and a new egg catalogue, 

 neither of which should I enjoy com- 

 piling. 



E. M. Kenworthy, 

 Wilmington, Del. 



BOOKS RECEIVED 



THE BIRDS OF LOUISIANA— State 



of Louisiana, Department of Conser- 

 vation, Bulletin 5 January 1918. This 

 is a list of the birds of Louisiana pre- 

 pared by Stanley Clisbey Arthur, Or- 

 nithologist, of the Department of Con- 

 servation and is a splendid contribu- 

 tion to the literature of that subject. 

 It is arranged according to the A. O. 

 U. check list together with numerous 

 maps and half-tone illustrations and 

 much valuable information. It is a 

 credit to the author and should have 

 been put forth in better form in the 

 way of paper and binding that the 

 state seems to have awarded it. 



The Supplement to the February 2, 

 1918 issue of the Scientific American 

 contains a splendid illustration on the 

 subject of "Anamolies of the Animal 

 World," by Maj. R. W. Schufeldt, U. 

 S. A. The name of the author is the 

 guarantee that the subject is treated 

 in both a popular and scientific man- 

 ner. 



The National Humane Review for 

 Feb. 1918 contains another illustrated 

 article by the same author on "Two 

 Fine Collections of Mounted Birds," 

 and relates to Philippine Ornithology, 

 being likewise illustrated by some 

 splendid half-tones. 



The California Fish & Game for 

 January 1918 has an article from the 

 pen of John G. Tyler entitled, "un- 

 appreciated Friends," which should be 

 read by every friend of the North 

 American birds. A photograph of the 

 contents of the stomach of a Western 

 Meadowlark made by H. C. Bryant ac- 

 companying this paper ought to be in 

 the hands of every farmer in the 

 United States and the fact that 

 stomach of a single Brewers Black 

 Bird was found to contain 374 larvae, 

 65 paupae and 3 adult alfalfa weavers, 

 besides several other bugs, is an evi- 

 dence of the good that these birds, 

 which are almost universally persecut- 

 ed, do. 



