Recent Literature . 
43 
several of them. Respecting the abundance of the Painted Lark Bunting 
(Plectrophanes pictus) we quote as follows : “ It passes south in October, in 
company with P. ornatus, and when thus migrating I have seen immense 
flocks of this bird. I have sat for two hours at a time on a duck-pass, 
some twelve miles south of the post, and had an almost constant flight of 
these birds go over me. I estimated that a thousand birds passed me 
every minute, and their flight appeared in no wise lessening when I de- 
parted ” ( l . c., p. 76). Descriptions of the Game-birds occurring in Dakota 
and Montana have been incorporated with the list, in accordance, as the 
author tells us, “ with the wish of many officers of the army stationed in 
the Territories,” for their assistance in determining the species met with. 
These descriptions have been taken, with modifications, from Dr. Coues’s 
“ Key to North American Birds.” Dr. McChesney’s report was trans- 
mitted to Dr. Coues for publication, and appears to have had the benefit 
of his revision. With Messrs. Roberts and Benner’s “ Contribution to 
the Ornithology of Minnesota,” printed in this number of the Bulletin, and 
relating to the region lying a little to the eastward of Fort Sisseton, we 
have now a pretty fair exposition of the ornithology of the great “ Coteau 
des Prairies ” region of Dakota and Minnesota. — J. A. A. 
Minor Ornithological Papers. — Under this heading we propose 
to give short notices or abstracts of the more important ornithological 
papers and notes relating to American birds that appear in publications 
not usually of convenient access to those to whom they are of really great- 
est interest, namely, the working ornithologists. While no attempt will be 
made to notice everything bearing upon the subject of ornithology, it will 
be our aim to record all papers or notes of special value, and especially 
all papers having the character of local lists, or bearing upon the migra- 
tion and distribution of species. Reference to notes upon the habits or 
occurrence of single species, even if comparatively rare, will, from lack of 
space, necessarily be excluded, unless they contain points of particular 
interest. Furthermore, no notice will be taken of anonymous or pseudony- 
mous articles. The record will begin with the close of that given by Dr. 
Coues in his “ List of Faunal Publications relating to North American 
Ornithology,” published in Part First of his “ Birds of the Colorado Val- 
ley,” or about July 1, 1878. 
Journals devoted to field and aquatic sports, to “practical ” natural his- 
tory, and the preservation of game, are frequently chosen by excellent 
field naturalists as their mediums of publication, and in this respect none 
is more prominent than that deservedly popular newspaper, “ Forest and 
Stream,” which, in tone and literary standing, is a model of its class. 
Beginning with Volume XI of this publication, we note (in. Vols. XI, XI F, 
and XIII) the following : — 
1. List of Birds in Peotone [ Illinois ] and Vicinity. By D. H. Eaton. 
Forest and Stream. Vol. XI, p. 46, Aug. 22, 1878. — Contains notes 
on the relative abundance and breeding of 65 species. 
