Mar., 1919 
The technical matter useful to the special 
student of birds is found condensed in small 
type at the head of each discussion. This 
makes reference to the finer characters of 
each species easy, and at the same time seg- 
regates this formal matter from the more 
readable text following. 
The plan of treatment of each bird follows 
a regular seyuence: Technical portion (in 
small type): Accepted common and scien- 
tific names; other names; description: adult 
male, adult female, juvenile, downy young; 
marks for field identification; voice; nest; 
eges; general distribution; distribution in 
California. Text (in large type): General 
and local distribution; migration; field 
marks; life history; nest, eggs, young; hab- 
its and behavicr; food; economic value; 
present and probable future status. 
Every one of the 108 native game birds of 
the state is described in detail, these includ- 
ing the ducks, geese, swans, ibises, cranes, 
rails, snipe, sandpipers, curlew, plover, quail, 
grouse, pigeons and doves. The localities in 
which each is found, and the times of the 
year when it is found, are designated and 
its life history and habits are accurately and 
well described. 
Some of the life histories are unusually 
full—notably those of the commoner and 
more popularly known species; and while 
justice is done to the observations of previ- 
ous workers, much new material of sterling 
worth is woven into the entire fabric of the 
book. Thus it is a substantial contribution 
to science—to the body of ascertained fact. 
All through the book especial attention is 
given to those distinctive characters of a 
bird that help to make it recognizable from 
other species when alive, at a distance. A 
useful field manual is thereby provided. A 
dependable key to the various species makes 
possible the identification of any specimen 
in hand. The index contains all the com- 
mon as well as the scientific names, thus 
making it easy to locate any bird, provided 
some name is known, even though this name 
be a very local, popular one. 
Unquestionably the sixteen colored plates 
contribute very materially to the usefulness 
and attractiveness of the book. Thirteen 
are by Fuertes and the rest by Allan Brooks 
-——all in the happiest vein of these accom- 
plished artists. Twenty-one different game 
birds are figured in color, and the portraits 
are not only aesthetically satisfying, but em- 
inently informative as well—two qualities 
which are not necessarily associated. The 
figures depict the birds in their character- 
istic, or usual, Californian environment— 
PUBLICATIONS REVIEWED 93 
and let me emphatically state that these are 
no T-perch effigies, but real live birds, 
transferred in miniature to the printed page, 
retaining all the vitality of a “cinematic” 
likeness. For instance, feel the perceptible 
“honk” of the geese on plate:6, or the hurry 
of the rail stepping off on plate 9; or the 
quiet animation of the quail in plate 1, or 
the dynamic quality of the mudhens of plate 
10. The ninety-four line drawings in the 
text serve largely to illustrate characters of 
plumage, bill, or feet, such as are especially 
helpful in identifying the different kinds of 
game birds. 
Much credit is due to a Berkeley gentle- 
man, whose name is withheld, and to Miss 
Annie M, Alexander for providing the “‘sin- 
ews of war’; to the former for supplying 
funds to carry on the economic work and 
to the latter “for the continued financial 
support, furnished in generous measure” to 
the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, through 
whose opportunities the game bird book was 
brought to a conclusion. 
Certainly everyone interested in Califor- 
nia birds will wish to possess this book. If 
little has been said directly concerning the 
text, it has been because the reputation of 
the authors has seemed to the reviewer to 
render such special commendation superflu- 
ous. From Grinnell, Bryant, and Storer a 
high grade of work is a matter of course, 
since they stand high in the Bradstreet of 
ornithology. Theirs must be the satisfaction 
of craftsmen who have done something bet- 
ter than it has been done before; and they 
are to be congratulated for having so worth- 
ily represented their institution in the com- 
memorative series of the Semicentennial of 
the University of California——W. K. FISHER, 
Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford Uni- 
versity, Pacific Grove, California, February 
8, 1919. 
SoME RECENT INVESTIGATIONS ON THE FoopD 
oF CERTAIN WILD Birps. By Walter E. Col- 
linge, D. Sc. F. L. S. The Journal of the 
Board of Agriculture, vol. xxv, September, 
1918, pp. 668-691, 17 diagrams in text. 
Under the above title, Dr. Walter E. Col- 
linge, now the foremost economic ornitholo- 
gist of Great Britain, throws new light on 
the economic value of nine species of Brit- 
ish birds. The three main points made in 
the introduction are: Need for more knowl- 
edge on the food habits of birds, because of 
their direct relation to agriculture and food 
supply; the intricacy of the problem; the 
casual and unscientific manner in which the 
subject has been treated in the past. The 
