46 THE CONDOR 
blemishes. But that absolute perfection is 
beyond human reach is occasionally dem- 
onstrated even in the present painstaking 
product. For example, grammatical lapses 
in the following quotations from page 164 
are apparent: “The duties of incubation 
were shared by both sexes; in two instances 
the male was setting and in three the fe- 
male.” 
Whatever of misgiving may be aroused in 
the mind of the reader of Loomis’s paper in 
regard to some of the theoretical interpre- 
tations and to the peculiarity in handling 
geographic variation, the paper must be 
commended for the extraordinary care exer- 
cised in gathering and publishing the multi- 
tude of facts therein made available in re- 
gard to the relatively little known Tubin- 
ares.—J. GRINNELL. 
THE HAWKS OF THE CANADIAN PRAIRIE 
PROVINCES IN THEIR RELATION TO AGRICUI- 
TURE, by P. A. TAVERNER. Canada Geological 
Survey, Museum Bulletin No. 28, Biological 
Series no. 7, August, 1918, pp. 1-14, 4 plates 
(8 colored illustrations), 7 figs. in text. 
It is to be hoped that this bulletin will be 
given the widest possible circulation, espe- 
cially among the farmers of the region cov- 
ered, for although the treatment of the sub- 
ject is necessarily of the briefest, the author 
has nevertheless compressed within these 
few pages much accurate information upon a 
generally misunderstood subject. The writ- 
ten descriptions and the illustrations should 
together suffice for ready identification of 
the species by the layman, and the nature 
of the food of each is concisely indicated. 
Emphasis is rightly placed upon the harm- 
lessness of most hawk species, as regards 
human interests, and the absolute benefits 
accruing to the farmer through the activi- 
ties of many of them. 
Such educational work as this is valuable 
and should be pushed farther. It has been 
neglected in the past with results familiar 
to all ornithologists. The fate of the White- 
tailed Kite in California and of the Mississip- 
pi and Swallow-tailed kites in Illinois are 
fair examples of what is happening else- 
where throughout the country,—the destruc- 
tion of beautiful and harmless birds through 
ignorance and _ thoughtlessness. Printed 
matter calculated to offset such action is of 
the scarcest, and seldom reaches the indi- 
vidual who should be convinced of the error 
of his ways. Of United States government 
publications, the one and only report ade- 
quately covering the subject, Dr. A. K. Fish-: 
Vol. XXI 
er’s Hawks and Owls of the United States,— 
it needs no eulogy here—which should have 
been forced upon the attention of every far- 
mer and sportsman in the country, has 
lapsed into the position of a prize for the 
ornithological bibliophile! As such it now 
fails of useful service to any important de- 
gree. 
On the other hand, there are popular mag- 
azines of wide circulation on whose pages 
may be seen advertisements of ammunition 
dealers, showily placed and attractively il- 
lustrated, calling upon the sportsman to go 
forth and shoot ‘hawks’, propaganda that 
reach scores of people where there is one 
who ever hears a word on the other side. 
Audubon societies as a rule seem to have 
paid but scant attention to this phase of 
bird protection, the members thereof doubt- 
less having for the most part but hazy no- 
tions of the true character of most predace- 
ous birds; and Federal and state biologists 
have lately found all-engrossing occupation 
in the destruction of “noxious” animals— 
some of which used to be kept in bounds 
through the assistance of the formerly 
abundant Raptores. So, with most people 
lacking the knowledge to discriminate be- 
tween harmful and beneficial species, usual- 
ly in ignorance even that there are any 
useful kinds, and with the ever-present irre- 
sponsible gunner eager to shoot at such a 
mark, even should there be laws against do- 
ing so, the hawks suffer in consequence. 
For all of these reasons it is a pleasant 
privilege to call special attention to Mr. 
Taverner’s excellent paper, and to urge the 
desirability of the broadcast distribution of 
reports such as this one is.—H. S. SwWARTH. 
MINUTES OF COOPER CLUB MEETINGS 
NORTHERN DIVISION 
AuGustT.—The regular meeting of the 
Northern Division of the Cooper Ornitholog- 
ical Club was held at the Museum of Verte- 
brate Zoology at 8 p. M., August 15, 1918. Dr. 
Evermann presided and the following mem- 
bers were present: Messrs. Carriger, Grin- 
nell, Lastreto, Loomis, Noack, Swarth and 
Trenor; Mesdames Allen, Grinnell, Kluegel, 
Schlesinger; visitors, Miss Daniels, Miss 
Guthrie, Mr. Kelly, Mrs. Swarth, and Miss 
Hittell. , 
By special request the program preceded 
the business meeting. Mr. Leverett M. 
Loomis read an instructive paper on bird — 
migration, in which he ascribed conflicting — 
observations as due to reports of delayed | 
