106 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XVII 
erroneous in at least four respects. “The 
pigeon . . . auklets appear [in southeastern 
Alaska] only as migrants in winter ” — what 
does it mean! "White-breasted” cormorants 
and “Gamhel’s whitethroat" — what are 
they? "The only game-bird of the [south- 
coast district of Alaska] ... is the white- 
tailed ptarmigan "Of the owls, the 
short-eared finds excellent nesting-places in 
the thick woods . . .”. . .Both varieties of 
the Canada or spruce grouse, or fool-hen, 
resort in summer to breeding-places all over 
the interior ...” — than which a more fool- 
ish statement could hardly be constructed! 
The above-quoted, and other statements, are 
inconsistent with many of the best-known 
facts in Alaskan ornithology. 
It does seem to us that when an organiza- 
tion of the standing and financial resources 
of the National Association of Audubon Soci- 
eties essays to engage in instructing the 
youth of the land with "accuracy”, better 
results than parts of those here presented 
might have been secured. It is a reflection 
upon the standing of ornithology and or- 
nithologists in America when presumably 
representative work is put out in this faulty 
manner — and for the worthy purpose of pop- 
ular education. — .J. Grinnell. 
Wild Life Conservation. By William T. 
Hornaday (Yale University Press, New 
Haven, November, 1914, pp. vi + 240, 13 pis.). 
That noted champion of wild life conser- 
vation, W. T. Hornaday, has just contrib- 
uted another valuable work to the cause. 
The book is the result of a series of lectures 
dealing with wild life conservation as given 
before the Yale Forestry School. The au- 
thor says: “The publication of this volume 
by the University Press may well be accept- 
ed as a contribution to a cause. It is hoped 
by those who have made possible this lec- 
ture course and this volume that this pre- 
sentation may arouse other educators in our 
great institutions of learning to take up 
their shares of the common burden of con- 
serving our wild life from the destructive 
forces that so long have been bearing very 
heavily upon it.” 
In his introduction Dr. Hornaday scores 
University educators for training a grand 
army of embryologists and morphologists 
and allowing the annihilation of the species 
that our zoologists are studying. He asks: 
“Which is the more important: the saving 
of the pinnated grouse from extermination, 
or studying the embryology of a clutch of 
grouse eggs?” 
The book is divided into five chapters, 
as follows: “The Extinction and Preserva- 
tion of Wild Life,” “The Economic Value of 
Our Birds,” “The Legitimate Use of Game 
Birds and Mammals,” “Animal Pests and 
their Rational Treatment,” and “The Duty 
and Power of the Citizen in Wild Life Pro- 
tection.” In addition a chapter on “Private 
Game Preserves as Factors in Conserva- 
tion” by Frederick C. Walcott is given, and 
the book concludes with a bibliography of 
the more recent works on wild birds with 
special reference to game preserves and the 
protection and propagation of game. A num- 
ber of very telling pictures depicting the 
slaughter of game and also a number illus- 
trating protection are used as illustrations. 
The most pertinent sentences and para- 
graphs are placed in italics. Most of these 
expressions are in Dr. Hornaday’s positive 
style. They are expressed in such a way 
as to make them appear immutable laws. 
For example, here are some of them: “No 
one thanks an ancestor who hands over to 
him only desolation, ugliness and poverty”; 
“a fauna once destroyed cannot be brought 
back”; “every wild species of bird or mam- 
mal quickly recognizes protection, and 
takes advantage of it to the utmost”; “if 
our quail and grouse are decently treated, 
and sensibly protected, they will come back 
so rapidly and so thoroughly that we will 
not need to look abroad for substitutes.” 
We are glad to see a growing sentiment in 
favor of this last maxim. Our own native 
game will always be of more value than in- 
troduced game. 
The time is near at hand when every 
sportsman will echo the sentiment ex- 
pressed in the following: “The outing in the 
open is the thing, — not the amount of 
bloodstained feathers and death in the game 
bag.” This slogan should be conspicuously 
posted in every gun club lodge in the United 
States. 
The chapter on “The Duty and Power of 
the Citizen” furnishes information as to 
“what the young conservationist can do 
when the mantle of leadership has fallen 
upon him.” The following advice is given: 
“Do not propose any local legislation”; “a 
leader must be willing to sacrifice his per- 
sonal convenience, the most of his pleas- 
ures, and keep at his work when his friends 
are asleep or at the theater”; “campaigns 
for wild life conservation should attack edu- 
cated classes”, for “the greatest factor in 
reforming the wild life situation is educa- 
tion, for it is the educated people who edu- 
cate their legislators into the making of bet- 
ter laws and providing means for their 
enforcement.” 
Mr. Walcott’s chapter on “Private Game 
Preserves” deals largely with successful 
methods of propagating game and the suc- 
cess attendant upon careful protection. He 
also suggests the aviary as an important ad- 
junct to the education of the public. 
“Our Vanishing Wild Life”, and this 
