174 



THE CONDOR 



Vol. XIX 



from Santa Cruz Island agrees with that of 

 several ornithologists who have made a 

 study of the insular races. 



On the whole group of islands 195 species 

 and subspecies are tabulated as authentical- 

 ly recorded, or noted, together with 16 

 doubtful ones. The greatest number re- 

 ported from one island — Santa Cruz — is 141 

 authentic, with 2 doubtful. This is partly 

 accounted for by the apparently more at- 

 tractive conditions on this island and part- 

 ly because more observers have visited it. 

 San Clemente comes next, principally on the 

 latter account as it does not appear to be 

 an especially attractive resort for land birds, 

 with 114 authentic and 2 doubtful. 



Mr. Howell is to be congratulated upon 

 his work, and his paper will undoubtedly 

 meet with a warm reception by all members 

 of the Cooper Ornithological Club, as well 

 as American ornithologists in general. — 

 Joseph Mailliard. 



The Fundus Oculi of Birds Especially 

 as Viewed by the Ophthalmoscope. A stu- 

 dy IN COMPARATIVE ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 



By Casey Albert Wood. The Lakeside 

 Press, Chicago, 180 pp., 61 colored plates, 

 145 figs, in text. 



A revelation awaits everyone fortunate 

 enough to have access to Dr. Casey A. 

 Wood's monograph on the fundus oculi of 

 birds. The professional bird student will be 

 surprised at the wonderful colors and pat- 

 terns to be found in the eyegrounds of 

 birds; while the amateur bird student will 

 be at least no less impressed. The well- 

 known shining eye of a cat or of an owl in 

 the dark gives no intimation that the oph- 

 thalmoscope can bring out such beautiful 

 eyegrounds. 



In the introduction Dr. Wood points out 

 that although the fundus oculi of many of 

 the mammals have been thoroughly describ- 

 ed, little attention has been given birds, 

 vertebrates that exhibit the highest and 

 most varied types of vision. Ophthalmosco- 

 pic examination of the fundus oculi of living 

 birds comprised a large part of the investi- 

 gations reported upon. 



In addition to macroscopic examinations 

 of prepared specimens, the tissues were mi- 

 croscopically examined by Dr. J. R. Sloan- 

 aker of Leland Stanford University in col- 

 laboration with Dr. Wood. In one chapter a 

 review of the anatomy and physiology of 

 the organs and tissues in the fundus oculi 

 plained; the appearance of the eyegrounds 

 of the bird is given; in another, ophthalmo- 

 scopy and the instruments used are ex- 

 in the various orders of birds and a classi- 



fication of them forms another chapter; 

 whereas, the concluding chapter points out 

 the relations of reptilian to avian fundi. 



The differences noted between day birds 

 and nocturnal birds are described as fol- 

 lows: "The average eyeground or fundus 

 oculi of most Day Birds resembles, as much 

 as anything, the texture of the so-called 

 'scotch mixtures' in smooth finished cloth — 

 usually light brown, gray, gray-blue, blue 

 mixed with striate rays, or fine concentric 

 marking of lighter gray or white. Scattered 

 over this background are numerous yellow- 

 ish, yellow-white, brown or gray points of 

 pigment. ..." 



"Nocturnal Birds have, almost invariably, 

 yellow-red, orange, orange-red or reddish 

 brown fundi, with the choroidal vessels 

 plainly visible through the semi-transparent 

 retina. Some of the Owls present almost a 

 scarlet vermilion eyeground, and this inten- 

 sity of colors appears to be peculiar to 

 Strigiformes. ..." 



Although attempts at photographing the 

 fundus have failed, there is a wealth of il- 

 lustration in the monograph. One hundred 

 and forty-five drawings illustrating the ma- 

 croscopic findings of preserved specimens 

 are to be found in the text, most of them 

 by Mr. C. H. Kennedy, now of Cornell Uni- 

 versity. A series of sixty-one paintings ex- 

 ecuted by Arthur W. Head, of London, show- 

 ing minute details and shades of color of 

 the fundus oculi of many different species 

 of birds and of several species of reptiles, 

 show the varied and beautiful coloration 

 and the complex tissue formations revealed 

 by the ophthalmoscope. These attractive 

 plates cannot fail to catch the eye of every- 

 one who opens the pages of the book, and 

 they will doubtless aid in stimulating others 

 to examine the eyegrounds of birds that 

 come under their observation, something 

 which the author has stated in the introduc- 

 tion is the main purpose of the study. 



The monograph is the more appreciated 

 when it is known that Dr. Wood brought it 

 to completion by utilizing spare moments 

 during a busy professional life. Students of 

 comparative anatomy and physiology owe a 

 great deal to the energy and enthusiasm of 

 Dr. Wood, and specialists on the eyes of 

 birds will long have to refer to the funda- 

 mental work of this author. Nor is the work 

 so technical that it will be utilized only 

 by the scientist. The book will be found' 

 entertaining and understandable by all. — H. 

 C. Bryant. 



A Distributional List of the Land Birds 



