1.36 
THE COX DOR 
Vol. XII 
species undetermined, Mockingbird ( Mimus 
polyglottos ) , Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta 
canadensis ), and Varied Thrush ( Ixoreus 
naevius), and for Juniperus virginiana, Fish 
Crow (Corvus ossifragus ) , Grackle {Quiscalus 
quiscula ), Song Sparrow (: Melospiza melodia) 
and Redbird ( Cardinalis cardinalis). 
The author’s principal conclusions are that: 
“Birds are reponsible for most of the dissemi- 
nation of the junipers,” and “General observa- 
tions seem to point to the dense southern 
stands as a center for the dissemination along 
the lines of bird migration.” — W. L. M. 
McGregor's “Manual of Philippine 
Birds. ”1 — This work admirably meets the 
heretofore keenly felt need for a single volume 
of convenient size, containing descriptions of 
Philippine birds. In fact the only previous 
reference work covering the region is the bulky 
Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum, not 
only the size of which but its rarity precluding 
general use. 
McGregor’s Manual strikes us as having 
been planned with great care to secure essen- 
tials and leave out non-essentials; and the plan 
is followed consistently thruout. The scien- 
tific name, an English name, and such native 
nanus as seem to be commonly used with some 
degree of accuracy are given for each species. 
A well selected synonymy provides references 
to the important literature pertaining to each 
species. Detailed distribution, by islands, is 
given in each case. Concise descriptions, in- 
cluding metric measurements are given for 
each and where there are plumage variations, 
these are separately described in detail. Brief 
characterizations of the genera and larger 
groups, together with simple but direct keys, 
render identification a less formidable task to 
the reader unfamiliar with oriental birds than 
would otherwise be the case. 
The system of classification followed by Mc- 
Gregor is that set forth in Sharpe's Hand-List. 
The reason advanced for adopting the system 
is the adequate one, that it is “both convenient 
and well known.” It is a pity that American or- 
nithologists cannot allow themselves to fall 
into line with the rest of the world, to the end 
that uniformity of arrangement may be at- 
tained. There will always be differences of 
opinion over the relative positions of certain 
groups; but such minor points might well 
lie conceded in the faunistic treatment of birds, 
“for the sake of convenience and uniformity.” 
We are interested to observe that McGregor, 
an independent, systematic student of the 
bird-life of a large archipelago where there are 
1 A Manual | of i Philippine Birds I by I Richard C. 
McGregor | Part I I Galliformes to Kurylaemiformes | 
[Seal! I Manila I Bureau of Printing | 1909 8 vo.. pp. i-x, 1- 
412. Part II | Passeriformes (otherwise same title page), 
pp. i-xvi, 413-769. Part I was issued April 15. 1909. and 
Part II. January 31, 1910. 
many closely allied forms in a group and 
where the problems of speciation are manifold, 
thruout his book wholly ignores the trinomial 
designation. And this too in view of the his- 
torical fact that McGregor used to be an ardent 
trinomialist, describing “subspecies” galore! 
Everything nameable at all is treated in his 
new book as a binomial, just as does Sharpe 
and many other English authorities always 
referred to by Americans in this connection 
as “conservatives.” Do we not see the pendu- 
lum beginning to swing back again from trino- 
mialism towards the consistent and non-ambig- 
uous binomial? 
Perhaps the dogged adherent to the trinomial 
will before long be referred to as the “old- 
fashioned conservative!” 
The present reviewer is unable in the rather 
brief time allotted to the perusal of McGregor’s 
Manual, to find anything in it not worthy of 
commendation in a work of this sort. Of 
course, if the reviewer were familiar with the 
Philippine ornis, it is cpiite probable that he 
might differ with the author in minor details of 
characterization, or range. But he is not; and 
in common with a host of other students will 
always turn to the Manual when information 
within its scope is desired, with confidence 
that it is in its entirety unimpeachable as an 
authority in its field. — J. G. 
The Vertebrate Fauna of Cheshire and 
Liverpool Bay. Edited by T. A. Coward, 
F. Z. S Volume I. The Mammals and Birds 
of Cheshire. By T. A. Coward and C. Oldham, 
F. Z.S., M. B. O. U. With illustrations from 
photographs by Thomas Baddeley. Witherby 
& Co., London, 1910; 8 vo., pp. i-xxxii + 1-472. 
Price 26 shillings net. 
The two volumes of this work cover the 
mammals, birds, reptiles, and batrachians of 
the region, about as much space being devoted 
to the birds as to all the other groups combined. 
This is partly due to the fact that there are 
many more species of birds in the region than 
of the other classes of animals, and partly be- 
cause the birds’ habits and life histories are so 
much better known as to warrant treatment 
in greater detail. 
In the introduction some space is given to a 
quotation of the local regulations for the pro- 
tection of wild birds anil a discussion of their 
effectiveness, the conclusion being that on the 
whole the laws are futile and inadequate, tho it 
is admitted that a few species have noticeably? 
increast in numbers thru their enforcement. 
A discussion of the migratory movements of 
the birds follows, in which they are divided 
into groups — summer residents, winter resi- 
dents, birds of passage, partial migrants, irreg- 
ular migrants, and casual wanderers. In the 
body of the work two hundred and thirty-one 
species are treated, as having been satisfacto- 
