140 



THE AMERICAN NATURALIST 



[Vol. XL 



having evidently been blown out to sea by southerly storms in crossing 

 from Norway to the lands to the south. Migrants to the far north 

 and Greenland pass through on their migrations, or come down in 

 fall to winter, for the warm Gulf Stream waters keep the southern 

 coast of Iceland largely open in the cold months. The fall migration 

 of native birds is chiefly to the southeast, via the Faroe Islands to 

 the British Isles or to southern Norway, and the reverse in spring. 



The second part of the book is devoted to the annotated list of 

 Icelandic birds, with synonymy, and notes on the habits. One 

 hundred and twenty species are recorded as certainly known, exclu- 

 sive of the Great Auk. The greater part of these are water birds, 

 and some thirty-two only are land birds, of which latter, but twelve 

 are known to breed in Iceland. In the notes relative to the different 

 species is brought together a great mass of valuable information 

 largely the result of the author's personal experience. A few of the 

 more interesting notes are the account of the nesting of Megalestris 

 skua; the occurrence of a single specimen of the Yellow-nosed Alba- 

 tros {Thalassogeron chbrorhynchus) for several seasons on the south 

 coast until shot (in 1846); the nesting habits of Barrow's Golden- 

 eye Duck; and the occurrence of such American species as the Amer- 

 ican Widgeon, Belted Kingfisher, the Lapland Longspur (rarely 

 noted with flocks of Snow Buntings). 



The author's use of Latin names differs somewhat from the accepted 

 usage of American ornithologists. Thus the Kittiwake is llissa 

 r/.v.w; Talidna is used as an emendation of Pelidna. We are glad 

 to note, however, that the Ringed Murrc is not considennl a distinct 

 species from Uria troile. 



Holder's Half Hours with the Lower Animals.^— Dr. Holder, to 

 use his own rather awkward ])hr!ist>()l()ivy, lias "endeavored to tnake 



G. M. A. 



'H..1.1.M-. ('h;irl(-F. Ilnli llnur. with Ih, . 

 Spon^/es. Coml.H, .S/iW/.s. Inserts and Crustaaans. 

 Company, 1905. 8vo, 236 pp., illus. 



