126 
THE WILSON BULLETIN— June, 1922 
PUBLICATIONS REVIEWED 
Birds of South Dakota. By William H. Over and Craig S. Thoms. Bul- 
letin No. 9, South Dakota Geological and Natural History Survey 
(which is also) Bulletin No. 9, Series XXI, of the University of 
South Dakota. Vermillion, South Dakota. 142 pages, 20 plates and 
colored frontispiece. March, 1920. 
This Bulletin, in which it has been the aim of the authors to secure 
as complete a list as possible of the birds of South Dakota, enumerates 
322 forms. 
Part I consists of brief discussions on the importance of bird study, 
various means of attracting and conserving birds, the economic relations 
of the group, coloration and changes in plumage, and closes with a short 
account of bird migration. 
Part II is made up of a “ Hist and Description of Birds of South 
Dakota.” Here a lack of uniformity of presentation is apparent which 
might lead to difficulty for one unfamiliar with the classification of birds. 
The order Raptores is the only one mentioned and clarity as well as com- 
pleteness would have been more apparent if at least the names of the 
other orders had been given in their proper places. In the discussion of 
th.e Anseres, while the members of the subfamilies Merginae, Anserinae 
and Cygninae are discussed under these headings, the members of the 
subfamilies Anatinae and Fuligulinae are lumped together under one 
heading and the reader is left to his own resources in separating the 
species of each subfamily. The same criticism pertains to the discussion 
of the Families Odontophoridae and Tetraonidae and to that of the Co- 
lymbidae and Gaviidae. In many cases the diagnoses of species and sub- 
species are scarcely sufficient and in other instances the identification 
marks given might be considerably improved upon, e.g. that of Lincoln’s 
Sparrow. For certain species in which a considerable difference in color 
between the sexes prevails the color of the male only is given, e.g. Wil- 
son’s Warbler and the Redstart. 
Numerous slips in typography such as misspelled specific names, 
capitalization of the first letter of some specific names, the printing of 
the word “subfamily” in some places as an entire word and in others as 
two words and the misspelling of the common name of RJiynchopJianes 
mccowni mar the appearance of the paper and lead the reader to think 
that perhaps the authors were in too great haste to rush into print. 
On page 129 the statement that “ The Dipper or Water Ouzel is a 
slate-colored Thrush ” is somewhat misleading; and surely the Swamp 
Sparrow as well as, perhaps, a few other species of birds not mentioned 
in the report should have been included. 
Part HI consists of a brief “ Bibliography ” in which some of the 
citations are scarcely sufficiently definite. 
Scattered throughout the text of the Bulletin are the twenty plates, 
one of which is duplicated, and most of which are very good. They are 
reproductions from photographs and illustrate nesting boxes, baths, food 
hexes, nests and eggs and various species of birds. However, a happier 
