198. 
roundabout manner. Fire broke out in his 
workshop at Okanagan Landing, British Co- 
lumbia, and destroyed a part of his ornith- 
ological collections including some 2000 
skins gathered in his boyhood years. Mr. 
Brooks’s hands were pretty badly burned, 
but their recovery has been rapid and prac- 
tically complete, so that his capacity for 
drawing is in no degree lessened, as might 
have been feared. 
~The index to the current volume of Tur 
ConporR appearing in this issue was_ pre- 
pared by Mr. J. R. Pemberton in his usual 
painstaking manner. To him we extend our 
best thanks. 
The National Academy of Sciences, Wash- 
ington, D. C., has issued as its First Me- 
moir, Volume XVI, a brochure entitled 
“Lower California and Its Natural Re- 
sources’; author, Edward W. Nelson, Chief, 
Bureau of Biological Survey. The contri- 
bution is of quarto size and comprises 194 
pages and 385 plates. Our copy was received 
July 5, 1921. Rarely have we read a more 
fascinating work, for it was written by a 
true naturalist, based upon personal field 
experience, and is a straightforward, in- 
formative account. In 1905 and 1906 Dr. 
Nelson accompanied by Mr. E. A. Goldman 
traversed the entire peninsula of Lower 
California, their route being shown on an 
excellent map constituting one of the plates 
in the report under review. Topography, 
climate, plant life, animal life, faunal dis- 
tricts, life zones, history of explorations, and 
agricuitural features are among the topics 
dealt with. The splendid photographic re- 
productions supplement the text. Lists of 
the birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibi- 
ans are given for the different areas. And 
there is a colored map of the life zones. The 
paper terminates with a very full bibliog- 
raphy of titles relating in general to Lower 
California, and to its vertebrate zoology in 
particular. Because of the immediate con- 
tiguity of the territory covered by Dr. Nel- 
son’s monograph, ornithologists in the 
southwestern United States will want to ac- 
quaint themselves promptly with this nota- 
ble contribution. 
The death of Judge Edward Wall occurred 
at San Bernardino, California, September 
23, 1921. He was born in the same city, 
June 29, 1873. “Ed” Wall, as he was fami- 
liarly known, was one of the early members 
of the Cooper Ornithological Club, back in 
the 90’s, though his membership subsequent- 
ly lapsed for a time. In those early years 
he was one of the “collecting fraternity” 
which thrived in the neighborhood of Riv- 
erside, Redlands and San Bernardino, and 
from whose ranks came several men of 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XXIII 
recent scientific eminence. Ed Wall, how- 
ever, specialized in journalism and in the 
law, in which fields he won marked recog- 
nition. For the past six years or so, Judge 
Wall’s early inclinations toward bird study 
were reasserting themselves, as attested by 
reaffiliation with the Club (in 1913) and by 
articles which have appeared under his au- 
thorship in THe Connor. 
Mr. C. de Blois Green spent some weeks 
during the past summer upon Porcher Isl- 
and, near Prince Rupert, British Columbia, 
in search mainly of eggs of the Marbled 
Murrelet. He was successful in learning 
hitherto unknown facts regarding the breed- 
ing of this elusive though common bird, the 
eggs of which have not yet, to our knowl- 
edge, been taken. 
Part xiII (vol. Il, pp:.257-852)> pieee)en 
Witherby’s ‘“‘Practical Handbook of British 
Birds” was published on October 5, 1921. 
In all respects, the issuance of this work 
begun some three years ago is proceeding 
according to announcement (see Condor, 
xxI, 1919, p. 174). Six more parts are in 
prospect. The present installment includes 
most of the ducks, and from the American 
standpoint is of special interest as affording 
detailed description of the eclipse plumage 
in many of our own species and as discuss- 
ing the status of American and Old World 
races where such occur. For example, the 
American Pintail is commented upon under 
the accepted name Anas acuta tzitzihoa. 
Mr. R. H. Palmer, formerly of Pocatello, 
Idaho, and more recently of the University 
of Washington, Seattle, has gone to the 
City of Mexico, where he has received a 
commission to carry on geological work for 
the Mexican Government. He plans to em- 
brace the opportunity of doing some ornith- 
olcgical collecting as well. 
PUBLICATIONS REVIEWED 
First INSTALLMENTS OF DAWSON’S BIRDS OF 
CALIFORNIA.—The first two “parts” of “The 
Birds of California’, by William Leon Daw- 
son, reached our office on February 23 and 
March 16, respectively. Each part com- 
prises 64 pages of main text, the two to- 
gether being paged continuously from 1 to 
128, inclusive. There is naturally as yet no 
title page to be cited; the covers with their 
announcements are to be considered merely 
temporary—in the nature of publisher’s ad- 
vertising, as is the customary thing in sim- 
ilar cases. 
In addition to numerous half-tone illus- 
