Nov., 1916 
PUBLICATIONS REVIEWED 
237 
Kolyma River. Incidentally an American 
race of the Black-bellied Plover is separated 
from the two forms occupying Europe and 
East Siberia, respectively, on the ground of 
small size. It is named Squatarola squata- 
rola cynosurae, with type from Baillie Isl- 
and, Arctic America. The validity of this 
race has lately been queried by Todd (An- 
nals Carnegie Museum, x, 1916, p. 214). 
Thayer and Bangs find that, “like the knot, 
sanderling, turnstone and some other wad- 
ers”, the Dunlin divides into three races. 
These are: Pelidna alpina alpina, of western 
Europe; P. a. sakhalina, of east Siberia; 
and P. a. pacifica, of North America. The 
latter name, given by Coues years ago, is 
thus restored to use for our American bird. 
Koren was able to furnish field notes ac- 
companying his specimens, and these pro- 
vide basis for valuable facts in regard to 
migration times and nesting habits. 
Another expedition financed by Mr. Thay- 
er visited East Siberia and Arctic Alaska 
during 1913 and 1914. The two collectors 
of the party were Joseph Dixon and W. 
Sprague Brooks. The published report 2 is 
under the authorship of the latter, and ac- 
knowledgment for help is made to Outram 
Bangs and H. C. Oberholser. The notable 
features in this paper are the descriptions 
of several supposed new forms of American 
birds. Larus thayeri is named from Elles- 
mere Land. It is evidently a member of 
the very variable Larus glaucescens series. 
A far-reaching study of the gulls of Arctic 
America will be required before we can rest 
assured of the true status of all the variants. 
A western race of the Harlequin Duck, type 
from Kamchatka, is named Histrionicus 
histrionicus pacificus. Also the White- 
winged Scoter of the Pacific is separated 
from the Atlantic bird under the name Oide- 
mia deglandi dixoni, type from Humphrey 
Point, Arctic Alaska. On geographic grounds 
this case is not exactly clear, for the species 
nests in the interior of North America, the 
Atlantic and Pacific seaboards constituting 
its wintering grounds. 
A new race of Winter Wren is described 
from the Semidi Islands, Alaska, and is call- 
ed Nannus hiemalis semuliensis. Also the 
Commander Island Rosy Finch is found sep- 
arable from the Aleutian race and is called 
Leucosticte griseonucha maxima. Names 
employed for North American birds, and not 
used in the 1910 A. O. U. Check-List, are: 
Lagopus lagopus aVbus, Squatarola squata- 
(2) Notes on Birds from East Siberia and Arctic Alaska. 
By W. Sprague Brooks. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool.. lix, 
September, 1915, pp. 361-413, 2 fiprs. in text. 
rola cynosurae, Pelidna alpina pacifica, 
Planesticus migratorius caurinus, and Loxia 
curvirostra sitlcensis. Critical comment is 
often given concerning the status of forms. 
Then there is considerable amount of bio- 
graphical material mostly of a very welcome 
nature. But the temporary loss of one of 
the field note-books prevented full use of 
the facts gathered by this expedition. 
In the third paper 3 F. Seymour Hersey 
lists with annotations the birds encountered 
by him during the summer of 1914 in a trip 
along the coast -of Alaska north as far as 
Point Barrow, with visits to the Siberian 
coast. This trip was undertaken under the 
patronage of A. C. Bent and with the chief 
object in view of securing material pertinent 
to the latter’s work on the Life Histories of 
North American Birds. It is to be inferred 
that only a part of the total of information 
gathered is presented now. 
Naturally, with so much territory covered 
in a single season, no single locality was 
explored with any degree of thoroughness; 
also many of the localities were such as 
had been visited repeatedly before and for 
which there are in the literature many bird 
records. We are led in this connection to 
criticise the paper on the score of the incon- 
sequentiality of many of the remarks con- 
cerning the species. Actually new matter 
is small in proportion to the whole amount 
of print. In other words, the paper is “pad- 
ded”. 
There is, too, an element of vagueness 
which is decidedly provoking to the student 
of distribution when searching for definite 
records of occurrence. The important find 
of a colony of Sterna aleutica was made; 
but where? Were specimens taken of Larus 
vegae ? The references to Larus occidentals, 
L. calif ornicus, and L. delawarensis are 
more or less indicative of their having been 
found within Alaskan territory, but again 
there is lacking that clear-cut explicitness 
that would make these important records 
of most use to the serious student. — .1. 
Grinnell. 
MINUTES OF COOPER CLUB MEETINGS 
NORTHERN DIVISION 
August. — The regular monthly meeting of 
the Northern Division of the Cooper Ornith- 
ological Club was held at the Museum of 
Vertebrate Zoology, Berkeley, California, 
August 17, 1916, at 8 p. m. President Storer 
( 3 ) A List of the Birds Observed in Alaska and North, 
eastern Siberia during the Summer of 1914. By F. Sey- 
mour Hersey. Smiths. Misc. Coll., vol. 66, no. 2, 1916, 
pp. 1-33. 
