236 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XVIII 
mation on the food habits of California 
birds is given. 
The economic work of Professor Beal 
came at a time when any esthetic or econo- 
mic value that a bird might have was en- 
tirely overshadowed by depredations made 
more obvious by the conditions existing in 
a new country. His bulletins brought for- 
ward such conclusive evidence, however, as 
to convince most people that while birds 
sometimes inflict injury upon field crops 
and orchard trees and their products, they 
are often of great service in destroying ene- 
mies of the same crops, and that the aid 
so rendered in a subtle way may far more 
than offset the harm that is so apparent. 
Mr. Beal’s training was that of a scien- 
tist, for he was educated at the Massachus- 
etts Institute of Technology. He was ap- 
pointed Professor of Engineering at Iowa 
State College, later on becoming acting pro- 
fessor of zoology and comparative anatomy 
in the same institution. His interest in nat- 
ural history finally led him in 1891, to join 
the staff of the United States Biological 
Survey. Throughout his connection with 
the Survey his interest was centered in eco- 
nomic ornithology. Twenty-five years of his 
life were therefore devoted to this branch 
of science, and most of the workers in the 
same field now with the Biological Survey 
received their training at his hands. 
His many economic papers have clearly 
demonstrated the dollars and cents value of 
birds, and have greatly helped in building 
up the present-day sentiment favoring bird 
protection. The farmer, glad to receive help 
in distinguishing friend from foe, has been 
taught to seek conclusive proof of harm 
done before destroying any of the birds on 
his farm. To Professor Beal must be given 
also much of the. credit for bringing the 
science of economic ornithology in America 
to its present high standard. In California 
he will be remembered as the pioneer and 
founder of economic ornithology, and as one 
who developed interest in, and protection 
for, insectivorous birds. 
Mr. J„ S. Hunter, who worked with Mr. 
Beal in the Pajaro Valley when investiga- 
tions were being conducted in California, 
pays this tribute to him: “He was a man 
who did not seem to grow old, took an in- 
terest in everything, was thoroughly ener- 
getic and intensely interested in his work.” 
With such characteristics it is little wonder 
that the name of Foster E. L. Beal is re- 
vered wherever known and that his publica- 
tions are used as models by all younger 
workers. — H. C. Bryant. 
COMMUNICATIONS 
Editor of The Condor: 
Will you kindly allow me to make an ap- 
peal through your columns to the ornitholo- 
gists of the Pacific coast for photographs 
for use in the Life Histories of North Amer- 
ican Birds? 
I am planning to have this work illustrat- 
ed with a series of the finest photographs 
I can obtain, showing the home life of every 
species possible. 
I therefore want photographs illustrating 
breeding colonies, nesting sites, nests and 
eggs, and young birds. I am short of ma- 
terial on Tufted Puffin, Rhinoceros and Cas- 
sin auklets, Xantus Murrelet and Pigeon 
Guillemot. 
If any of your readers have good photo- 
graphs illustrating the home life of any of 
the above, I should be glad to have them 
send me such as they are willing to con- 
tribute from which I can make selections. 
Each contributor will receive full credit for 
what photographs as are used. 
Very truly yours, 
A. C. Bent. 
Taunton , Mass., October 10, 1916. 
PUBLICATIONS REVIEWED 
Recent Ornithology from Alaska and 
Eastern Siberia. — As a result of expeditions 
sent out from the United States into the far 
northwest, there have recently appeared sev- 
eral papers which add materially to our 
knowledge of the ornithology of the regions 
concerned. Three of these papers are to be 
commented upon here. The first, by Thayer 
and Bangs’, deals with the collections of 
birds obtained by Johan Koren along the 
Arctic coast of East Siberia, west to the 
Kolyma River. Koren was sent out at the 
expense of Mr. John E. Thayer, and during 
two years, 1911-12, evidently gave a good ac- 
count of himself. 
Thayer and Bangs describe several new 
birds from the Kolyma country, as follows: 
Lagopus lagopus koreni, a Willow Ptarmi- 
gan differing from our North American 
races in size and shape of bill; Circus cya- 
neus cernuus, a Marsh Hawk smaller and 
paler than the European Harrier; Budytes 
flavus plexus, a race of the Yellow Wagtail; 
Otocorys alpestris euroa, a race of Horned 
Lark. The Gray-cheeked Thrush ( Hylo - 
cichla aliciae aliciae) was found to be nest- 
ing as far west in eastern Siberia as the 
( 1 ) Notes on the Birds and Mammals of the Arctic Coast 
of East Siberia. Birds, by John E. Thayer and Out- 
ram Bangs. Mammals, by Glover M. Allen. Proc. 
New England Zool. Club, v, April 9, 1914, pp. 1-66, 1 map. 
