Nov., 1912 
PUBLICATIONS REVIEWED 
231 
PUBLICATIONS REVIEWED 
A Revision oe the Subspecies of the GrEEn 
Heron (Butorides virescens [Linnaeus] ). 
Bv Harry C. Oberhoeser. [=Proc. U. S. Nat. 
Mus., vol. 42, 1912, pp. 529-577.] 
In this monograph the author concludes that 
a proper comprehension of the group in ques- 
tion calls for the recognition of no less than 
twelve new subspecies, which, with the six 
previously named forms also recognized in 
the paper, gives a total of eighteen geo- 
graphic races of the Green Heron described 
and discussed. 
The new varieties are all from the West 
Indies, Mexico, and Central America, and 
their recognition in nowise affects the pres- 
ent arrangement of the A. O. U. Check-List — 
doubtless to the relief of many. Our south - 
western form, Butorides virescens anthonyi, 
is mentioned as one of the best characterized 
forms of the species ; the geographic range 
ascribed to it is essentially the same as that 
outlined in the Check-List, though given, oi 
course, in greater detail. 
The recognition of such a number of 
slightly differentiated subspecies (there is 
one allotted to each of the larger Lesser An- 
tilles south of Guadeloupe, with the exception 
of St. Vincent) is justified by the author in 
the following terms : “In the West Indies, 
either we must recognize a large number of 
additional forms or merge all. * *To 
adopt the latter alternative, however, would 
be to obscure all the evident and highly in- 
teresting, though to some extent puzzling, 
geographical variations which these West In 
dian birds exhibit. The writer has, there- 
fore, adopted the former course, as better 
representing the facts. * ^ * In one or two 
cases where forms are separated by a wide 
geographic area and by intervening races, 
it has been thought better to recognize by 
name slight average differences, rather than 
to refer such a bird to a distant and isolated 
race, to which, although superficially very 
similar, it could have no close phylogenetic 
relationship. This, of course, is the same 
problem that one meets often in wide-ranging 
and plastic groups, and which, it seems to the 
writer, would be in much the best way solved 
by assigning a name to the isolated colony, if 
there can be found any characters at all, 
however slight, to serve as a basis.” 
The argument is logical and convincing, but 
even those of us most inclined to admit it, 
will, I believe, be relieved that the various 
changes in the group under discussion come 
no nearer home! Here in the west we nave 
our “colonies” of various species of birds, to 
which no one as yet has ventured to affix 
separate names ; when they are migratory 
forms the difficulty of treatment Is much in 
creased. 
Mr. Oberholser’s treatment of the Green 
Herons, from the amount of material handled, 
and the evident care with which the problems 
involved have been worked out, will prob- 
ably remain authoritative for some time to 
come. — H. S. Swarth. 
A Partial Account of the Birds in the 
Vicinity of L.vguna Beach. By Leon Gard- 
ner [First Annual Report of Laguna 
Marine Laboratory, 1912, pp. 187-194.] 
A briefly annotated list of fifty-eight spe- 
cies observed during the summer near Lagu- 
na and Balboa, on the coast of Orange Coun- 
ty, in southern California. The birds are for 
the most part those known to frequent the 
general region, but we may, perhaps, be al- 
lowed to question the inclusion in the list of 
both Toxostoma r. rcdivivuni and T. r. pasa- 
denense as well as Catherpes incxicanus con- 
spersus. The use of the term “Brown Black- 
bird” in place of the familiar "Brewer Black- 
bird" does not seem a very happy innovation. 
The observation and accompanying collecting 
of the birds seems to have been done, judg- 
ing from the annotations, largely for the 
study of their parasites. — H. S. Swarth. 
Birds of the Pacific Slope of Southern 
Californi.v, by George Willett. [=Cooper 
Ornithological Club, Pacific Coast Avi- 
fauna No. 7, 1912, pp. 1-122.] 
This publication was mailed to all mem- 
bers of the Cooper Ornithological Club, 
under date of July 25, 1912. One can only 
wonder at the efficient management of a clnb 
that permits it to send its members, in addi- 
tion to The Condor, such important publica- 
tions as this, in return for the small mem- 
bership fee. 
It is needless to say that the appearance of 
this list has been watched for with more than 
usual interest by the active workers in the 
Club, as the work is, in its aim, a reca- 
pitulation of all that is known of one phase 
of the avifauna of southern California. Since 
1898, Grinnell’s “Birds of the Pacific Slope 
of Los Angeles County” has been the main 
reliance of bird students of southern Cali- 
fornia, and Mr. Willett states in his “Intro 
duction” that it was the first idea of the Club 
merely to revise this list. The territory, how- 
ever, was finally extended to include not only 
the Pacific slope of Los Angeles County, 
but that of all the rest of southern California, 
as well. This territory, roughly mapped, in- 
cludes all that section south of the mountains 
dividing northern and southern California, 
and west of the ranges extending from the 
San Jacinto mountains to the Mexican line, 
cutting off the Colorado desert to the east- 
ward. The list also includes all of the Santa 
