238 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XVII 
truth — of these conceptions. There are 
maps, of course, showing life zones and 
faunal areas, for use in connection with 
the text; and with this combination it 
would seem that even those most skeptical 
of the life zone concept, cannot but see the 
convenience and accuracy of this method 
of treatment. In fact, in such a state as 
California, with its wonderful diversity of 
surface and climate, it is difficult to see 
how any other phraseology could be at all 
satisfactory. Under conditions as uniform 
as those prevailing in many of the states 
east of the Rockies, where perhaps there 
may be but a single life zone represented, it 
is probably necessary to define ranges by 
political boundaries, but such a procedure 
in this state would be at best but clumsy 
and inaccurate. 
In this connection we would draw espe- 
cial attention to the introductory chapter 
on “Distributional Areas.” Life zone ideas 
and phraseology have been used more and 
more by those qualified to handle such 
tools accurately, until they have come to 
permeate also the activities of many natur- 
alists with but superficial or erroneous con- 
ceptions of the real meanings of the expres- 
sions they use so freely. The reviewer has 
listened to many more or less informal 
talks as well as set lectures, to mixed 
audiences or regular classes, in which the 
speakers were but too evidently possessed 
of the haziest ideas as to the distinctions 
they sought to use. Life zones, of course, 
have long been clearly explained, and the 
theories upon which they rest elucidated 
and enlarged upon, by Dr. C. Hart Merriam; 
but certain distributional terms, such as 
“faunal areas”, “regions”, etc., used so fre- 
quently of late, and in rather different 
senses from those in which they are found 
in older literature on the subject, have 
proved sources of confusion to many. Dr. 
Grinnell’s explanatory chapter is so clear 
an exposition of this complicated subject, 
at least as regards conditions on the Pacific 
Coast, and of the sense in which he uses the 
several terms, that it should certainly be 
carefully perused by all interested in the 
study. To the reviewer’s notion it might 
well be inserted entire in any educational 
text-book treating of the subject of geo- 
graphical distribution. Of the three accom- 
panying plates, two, showing, respectively, 
the Life Zones and Faunal Areas of Cali- 
fornia, are indispensable to an understand- 
ing of the accompanying text. The third is 
also most interesting and illuminating, 
showing extent of Life Zones on four cross- 
sectional profiles across the state. 
The treatment of species is practically 
the same as in the author’s previously pub- 
lished “Check-List of California Birds”, 
though with far greater elaboration of de- 
tail. The accepted current name of each 
species is preceded by a running number, 
and, in parenthesis, the A. O. U. Check- 
List number. A list of synonyms includes 
probably all scientific names applied to the 
species in literature pertaining to Califor- 
nia, and such English names as have been 
in general use. As these names are all in- 
cluded in the index, this is a feature of the 
publication that should be eminently use- 
ful to the local bird student. He can in a 
moment identify any bird name encountered 
in his reading. In the “status” there is 
abundant and most satisfactory citation of 
authorities, references mostly to literature, 
or to collections. The publication is, how- 
ever, by no means merely a compilation of 
already published facts, but contains a vast 
amount of previously unpublished data. 
For much of this the field activities of the 
Museum of Vertebrate Zoology are respon- 
sible, though other large local collections 
have also contributed. Of special interest 
are the citations from Belding’s unpublished 
manuscript of the “Water Birds of the Paci- 
fic District.” 
Five hundred and forty-one species and 
subspecies are included in the main list, of 
which one hundred and sixty-eight are 
water birds. The “Hypothetical List” 
numbers sixty-one. The order, and for the 
most part the general treatment, of the A. 
O. U. Check-List is followed, the most no- 
ticeable deviation from this standard lying 
in the rather liberal inclusion of slightly de- 
fined subspecies not admitted to the Check- 
List. Of the groups of birds largely rep- 
resented within the state, attention may be 
drawn to the eleven races of Fox Sparrow 
( Passerella iliaca) here recognized, calcu- 
lated to bring deeper despair to the heart 
of the amateur (and to some who are not 
amateurs) than the even longer list of Cal- 
ifornia’s song sparrows. 
Two species are added to the state list, 
the Wilson Petrel ( Oceanites oceanicus), 
and the Oregon Chickadee ( Penthestes atri- 
capillus Occident alis) , on the basis of speci- 
mens im the collection of the Museum of 
Vertebrate Zoology. Another species, the 
Sonoma Thrasher ( Toxostoma redivivum so- 
nomae ) is here first given a name (page 
155). We do not understand the reason for 
including this diagnosis in a work of such 
a nature, and do not consider it a desir- 
able procedure. There are many reasons 
why it would seem best to have given this 
