180 
Recent Literature. 
“ tlie whole sternum is smaller and less stoutly developed, the coils of the 
windpipe are confined to the anterior half of the keel, and it is this por- 
tion alone that is enlarged.” He finds that there are only about eight 
inches of windpipe in the keel to twenty-seven inches in G. americanus , 
while the walls of the sternal cavity are less perfectly ossified. In an em- 
bryo Sandhill Crane, about ready to break the shell, the trachea was 
found not to enter the sternum at all. In the Cranes, as in the Swans, 
the extent of the convolutions varies greatly with age. — J. A. A. 
Minor Ornithological Papers.* — The “ Chicago Field ” has fre- 
quently in its natural history department papers relating to ornithology, and 
especially to game birds. The articles, while containing many facts of in- 
terest, are mainly, we are sorry to observe, by pseudonymous writers, and 
their scientific value is thereby greatly impaired. In Volumes X, XI, and 
XII (August 17, 1878 — February 7, 1880), we note the following (Nos. 
49 - 54) that have veritable signatures : — 
49. [The Barnacle Goose and Labrador Buck. By Spencer F. Baird. 
Chicago Field, X, p. 74. — Respecting the occurrence of the first-named 
species in North America, and the former “abundance” and present scar- 
city of the last-named. 
50. The Reed Bird [Dolichonyx oryzivora']. By A. C. Waddell. Ibid., X, 
p. 135. — A short notice of its habits, and reference to its qualities for the 
table. The wasteful manner in which these birds are sacrificed is evinced 
by the following : “ As they rise in immense flocks and wheel in circuits 
round the fields, a discharge of both barrels, loaded with No. 12 shot, into 
their midst, will frequently bring down fifty or more ; but three quarters 
are lost, as they fall in the thick mass of growing rice, where the water is 
from three to four feet deep ; those that are found being those that fall 
near the edges or on the banks.” 
51. Among the Pigeons. By Prof. H.B. Roney Ibid., X, pp. 345-347. — 
On the habits, methods of capture, and nesting of the Wild Pigeon, with 
a highly interesting account of the “Michigan nesting of 1878.” The 
nesting area, situated near Pelosky, covered “ something like 100,000 acres 
of land,” and included “not less than 150,000 acres within its limits,” 
being in length about forty miles by three to ten in width. The number 
of dead birds sent by rail was estimated at 12,500 daily, or 1,500,000 for 
the summer, besides 80,352 live birds ; an equal number were sent by water. 
We have, says the writer, adding the thousands of dead and wounded ones 
not secured, and the myriads of squabs left dead in the nest, “ at the low- 
est possible estimate, a grand total of 1,000,000,000 Pigeons sacrificed to 
Mammon during the nesting of 1878.” The article concludes with observa- 
tions on the Michigan Pigeon law, and suggestions as to what the law should 
be, and a notice of the efforts made to check the shameful slaughter. 
52. Letters on Ornithology. By Dr. Elliott Coues. — Letters No. 19 
* Continued from page 115. 
