BOOK REVIEWS 



Edited by Marion Randall Parsons 



The Game Birds As a university publication, this is a contribution 

 OF California* from the California Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, 

 and the authors are Joseph Grinnell, Harold Child 

 Bryant, and Tracy Irwin Storer. Even the most self-possessed re- 

 viewer, if he cares at all for bird-life and the outdoors, must grow en- 

 thusiastic over such a book. Not only in the matter of contents, but 

 also in its mechanical excellences of binding, printing and illustrations, 

 this is one of the best pieces of work that has ever come from the 

 University of California Press. The latter deserves to be especially 

 congratulated on the printing of the colored plates. There are sixteen 

 of them — twelve by Louis Agassiz Fuertes and four by Allan Brooks — 

 and they are so beautiful that one is tempted to take them out of the 

 volume and frame them. An equipment of ninety-four text illustra- 

 tions lends additional aid to the student who desires to identify the 

 different species. 



Lest readers of this notice infer from the title that the book is in- 

 tended solely for sportsmen, let me hasten to state that it "aims to sup- 

 ply the naturalist with complete information to date regarding the life 

 histories of California birds, to give the hunter useful facts concerning 

 the birds he wishes to shoot, to furnish the legislator with helpful sug- 

 gestions relevant to the preparation of game laws, and to give the con- 

 servationist information which will aid him in his efforts to perpetuate 

 bird life." The book fulfills this manifold purpose admirably, and by 

 exhibiting the gaps in our knowledge of many of the species supplies 

 valuable hints to future observers. 



The reader will find here a practically complete summary of our 

 knowledge of the one hundred and eight game birds of the State. The 

 extensive collections and field-notes of the Museum of Vertebrate Zo- 

 ology are a guarantee for the scientific accuracy of the information 

 offered. Besides, Director Joseph Grinnell is undoubtedly right when 

 he declares in the preface his conviction that "the highest plane of 

 scientific output can be accomplished only through co-operative effort. 

 . . . . Where one author working alone would make mistakes un- 

 awares, two, or better, three, are able to check one another's output 

 to advantage." In the opinion of the reviewer the book supersedes, in 

 attractiveness, accuracy, and completeness, everything that has been 

 written on the game birds of California. 



*The Game Birds of California. (Contribution from the University of California 

 Museum of Vertebrate Zoology.) By Joseph Grinnell, Harold Child Bryant, 

 and Tracy Irwin Storer. University of California Press, Berkeley. 1918. Large 

 8vo; pp., X + 642. Cloth. Price, $6.00 net. 



