THE CONDOR 
Vol. XI 
176 
PUBLI CAT IONS REVI EWED 
The Birds of Washington | A Complete, 
Scientific and | Popular Account of the 372 
Species of Birds | Found in the State | By | 
William Leon Dawson, A. M., B. D., of 
Seattle | Author of “The Birds of Ohio” | 
assisted by | John Hooper Bowles, of 
Tacoma | Illustrated by more than 300 original 
half-tones of birds in life, nests, | eggs, and 
favorite haunts, from photographs by the | 
author and others. | Together with 40 draw- 
ings in the text and a series of | full-page color- 
plates. | By Allan Brooks | | Large 
Paper Edition | with photogravures and special 
photographs. | Sold only by subscription. | 
| Volume I [-II] | | Seattle | The 
Occidental Publishing Co. | 1909 | All rights re- 
served. — largedto, vol. I: 511., pp. i-xviii, 1-458, 
3 11.; vol. II: 5 11., pp. i-vi, 459-996,4 11.; illus- 
trations as indicated in title. 
This long expected work reach t us in August, 
a month of dullness to those who are compelled 
by circumstances to pass the season in the office, 
far from the refreshing mountains and forests. 
In our case, no more pleasurable, vivifying sen- 
sation ever pervaded us than when we had un- 
packt the two massive volumes and began to 
cut and turn the pages. The wonderfully clear 
scenic views, the accurate bird portraits, the 
vivid accounts, all tended to bring us thrilling- 
ly close to the realities depicted. 
“The Birds of Washington” is the most im- 
pressively adorned bird book we have ever 
handled. From the fly-leaves, with their 
unique gull-pattern to Brooks’ beautifully 
rendered Duck Hawk portrait, the work is an 
ideal of artistic taste and elegant book-making. 
The text is chiefly popular in style, the tech- 
nical matter being condensed into brief descrip- 
tions, and statements of range. A set of iden- 
tification keys, prepared by Lynds Jones, is ap- 
pended to Volume 1 1. The numerous life 
histories are well told; many of them we recog- 
nize as the residts of Bowles’ careful fieldwork. 
In fact a large part of the scientific value of the 
work was evidently contributed by this observ- 
er, as fully acknowledged by the author in the 
introduction. 
The accounts of species are vivacious por- 
trayals of their subjects, in the pleasing Daw- 
sonian style. They are chuck full of clever 
allusion, from Bobby Burns to the Bible. As is 
clearly explained by the author the book is 
written to meet the approval of the majority of 
its readers. Probably 90 percent of the sub- 
scribers are very slightly or not at all familiar 
with previous ornithological literature. It 
looks a trifle out of place to announce the book 
as a “complete, scientific” as well as popular 
treatise, altlio we recognize this as customary 
with publishers. The impression is satisfac- 
torily corrected, however, by the author, who in 
the preface shows his attitude to be one of com- 
mendable modesty. 
The State of Washington is part of a region 
of wonderful zonal and faunal diversity and for 
the working out even of the rougher distribu- 
tion of its birds, a vast amount more of field 
work will be necessary. While the author is 
clearly not in sympathy with unlimited collect- 
ing of specimens, he exhibits the proper atti- 
tude in his having overcome his qualms in 
many cases, by resorting to the gun to secure 
proper identification of species. We would 
suggest that with such birds as the Red-wings, 
Song .Sparrows, Savanna Sparrows, and Jays, 
collecting in quantity will be necessary before 
their statuses are satisfactorily worktout. Such 
work as this (besides also the very large bio- 
graphical phase of ornithology) awaits the ac- 
tivities of the Caurinus (“northwestern”) Club, 
to which body of ornithologists the “Birds of 
Washington” is dedicated. 
We feel that what we have tried to say in 
praise of Dawson’s “Birds of Washington” is 
quite inadequate. There is within us a grow- 
ing feeling of resentment, not towards the 
author, but towards the “fate” that lead Mr. 
Dawson to select Washington for his field of 
ornithological labors, rather than California ! 
— J. G. 
Mr. Love Holmes Miller has recently 
named* a new fossil bird from California under 
the title: Pavo californicus, a P'ossil 
Peacock from the Ouarternary Asphalt 
Beds of Rancho la Brea. The locality is 
near Los Angeles where have also been found 
other interesting bird remains yet to be 
described. In association with these fossil 
birds have been uneartht such mammalian 
forms as the saber-tooth tiger, and a lion even 
larger than the present-day African lion. The 
new peacock is recognized from a tarso-meta- 
tarsus bearing a spur-core, as in males of the 
common domesticated peacock. The fossil 
material is minutely described by the author, 
and compared with its persisting allies. 
“Students of Ornithology have in general 
laid minor stress on paleontological evidence 
in the determination of centers of distribu- 
tion.” This has been of necessity, for very 
little fossil material has been found represent- 
ing existing bird groups. The discovery of a 
peacock, therefore, so far from the present 
native range of the family (the Indian Region) 
assumes a very large importance. Fossil 
peacocks have been found previously in Europe 
and India. Because of the still imperfectly 
disclosed record, Mr. Miller refrains from ad- 
vancing any theories as to the course of dis- 
semination of the group, or its place of origin. 
As to the influences which have resulted in 
the disappearance of the phasianines from our 
fauna, while the quails are today so abundantly 
* Univ. Calif. -Publ. Geology V, pp. 285-289, pi. 25; 
issued Aug. 14, 1909, 
