110 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XIV 
birds had for generations been accustomed to 
man. Such a bird, however, is of none the 
less interest, because available close to a great 
metropolis. In fact this contingency adds gen- 
eral interest. The Osprey has been treated 
before in many places, l>oth biographically and 
photographically, but, in spite of its accessi- 
bility, always in a desultory fashion. It seems 
strange that expeditions are continually be- 
ing undertaken to remote regions for the 
purpose of making life studies of particular 
birds seldom known even by name to the 
people at large. But then, in these cases, 
there are the elements of travel and adven- 
ture, which give that thrill which seems usual- 
ly necessary to supply the impetus to both 
the contributors of expenses and the active 
agent in the enterprize. 
Mr. Abbott has established a most com- 
mendable precedent, both in his selection of a 
close-at-hand subject for intensive ornitho- 
logical study, and in the success with which 
he has observed facts and presented them in 
concise and literarily correct form. — J. 
Gkinxkll. 
'I'he Birds of North .\nd Middle Americ.v: 
[etc. I by Robert Ridgway, [etc.] Part V. j 
I^'amily Petroptochidae — The Tapaculos. ; 
Family Formicariidae — The Antbirds. i Fam- 
ily Furnariidae — The Ovenbirds. | Family 
Dendrocolaptidae — -The Woodhewers. I Family 
Trochilidae — The Hummingbirds | Family 
Micropodidae — The Swifts, j Family Trogo- 
nidae — the Trogons. | fete. |. = bull. U. S. 
Nat. Mus. No. 50, Part V, pp. i-xxiii, 1-859, 
pis. i-xxxiii ; “issued Novembei 29, 1911.” 
Part V of Ridgway’s great work shows a 
consistent maintenance of the very high 
standard set in Part I, which appeared ten 
years ago. 'I'he enormous value of the work 
as a whole to systematic and faunistic orni- 
thologists is becoming increasingly apparent 
as a larger proportion of the undertaking 
yields to completion. We are informed in 
the preface of the fifth part that the number 
of species and sub-species described in the 
live volumes is 2038, and that about 12C0 
forms remain to be treated in the subsequent 
parts of the work. 
'I'he scope of the present installment is in- 
dicated in the title, quoted in its essential de- 
tails above, 'the great bulk of the species 
belong to Mexico and Central America. Only 
the hummingbirds and swifts include regular 
representatives north of the Mexican line. 
•Among these we note, of nomenclatural in- 
terest, that the limits of the genus A'ephoe- 
cetes are extended to include our Black Swift, 
which becomes accordingly NcpJwccctcs iiigcr 
borealis. 
In the statements of ranges of certain of 
our hummingbirds, notably the Allen and 
Rufous, we regret to see lack of accord with 
the facts as now recognized. These inaccu- 
racies are the result of accepting many really 
erroneous records of occurrence at face value. 
-A lamentable thing, borne in upon us stron.g- 
ly of late, is the confusion that has evidently 
arisen even among experienced field ornithol 
ogists in the identification of breeding hum 
mingbirds. Discrimination has not been care- 
fully drawn between species actually nesting, 
and species which merely appear in transit 
through a region even though the latter may 
occur at a season when other species have 
eggs or small young. The breeding of the 
Rufous Hummingbird on the Santa Catalina 
Mountains, .Arizona, and in Santa Clara 
County, California, are extreme instances of 
unlikelihood. That the .Allen Hummingbird 
is "resident” throughout the greater part of 
its range is very much to be doubted. 
We call attention to this misfortune here, 
not in criticism of Mr. Ridgway, who in his 
function of compiler cannot be expected to 
analyse at all critically the vast numbers of 
records to be considered and incorporated, 
but to point out wherein we must revise our 
conclusions in the light of more careful field 
work. Even the last ( 1910) edition of the 
.A. O. U. Check-List is pretty shaky in its 
"ranges” of hummingbirds. 
But let us again refer to Ridgway's Birds 
in the more happy vein, which it most em- 
phatically deserves. The detailed descriptions, 
drawn up by an experienced hand, are alone 
of inestimable value, especially as regards the 
species of tropical .America. .A thing we have 
observed is the tendency, and ofttimes expedi- 
ency, of adopting well worded and accurate 
descriptions when once drawn up, in subse- 
quent literature. Mr. Ridgway has already 
provided characterizations which are recog- 
nizable as his, copied far and wide in popu- 
lar and semi-scientific books on North .Amer- 
ican birds. In the further development of 
ornithology of the now' lesser knowm parts 
of the .American continent, Ridgway’s skilled 
treatment will always be the basis. — J. 
Grinnell. 
The Economic Value of Bird Life By 
Richard H. Sullivan. [ = .Agricultural Ed- 
ucation, Kansas State Agricultural College, 
vol. 3, no. 7, pp. 1-47, 30 figs, in text.] 
.At the present time there is considerable 
discussion as to the value of the great flood 
of bulletins that are yearly poured out from 
