26 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XVI 
been left blank or turned to better purpose in the enlarging of the plates. But 
this IS not all, for the text, formless and trifling as it is, is as full of inaccuracies, 
guesses, and bald misstatements as an egg is of meat— or, let us say, as an own- 
erless dog is of fleas ; whoso lies down with it shall go scratching tor many a day. 
Of coin se the sjtace at command is very scant. All the more reason, then, 
why some two or three lines of information should have been held to through- 
out. Apart from the oological interest, which predominates hut is still inter- 
mittent, we get mere scraps — now a plumage description, now a range, now a bit 
of life-history, hut always a choice array of Eastern guesses at Western facts. 
The omission of a liird’s range is often misleading. Thus, Willow and Rock 
Ptarmigan are given as though they might he of universal distribution in the 
West. 
The omission of a sub-species might easily be pardoned, if it were con- 
sistent : hut to give one and make no mention of another more important in the 
\\ est is needlessly misleading. Thus, no mention is made of the Hutchins Goose 
or the Sandhill Crane or the Oregon Ruffed Grouse or the Red-naped Sapsucker. 
Wdiile professing to he complete, even s])ecies are omitted if they chance to 
resemble closely certain other species. Thus, the Lesser Yellowlegs, White-winged 
Dove, and Yellow-billefl Magpie are omitted without mention. 
An amusing attempt is made in these pages to “hear” the western egg mar- 
ket. Thus, we are told. ])age 1 14. that Condors’ egg's are “not as unobtainable 
as many suppose” ; that Duck Hawks nest “abundantly’’ on the Pacific Coast ; 
also, that the Green-winged Teal breeds abundantly in California and Oregon. 
But since we have made the charge of inaccuracy, let us be specific, for this 
is the nub of the matter. The inaccuracies noted appear to be of two classes : 
those which are due to sheer carelessness, lapsi calami and poor proof read- 
ings, and those which betray crass ignorance of Western conditions. The former 
are more easily forgivable, so let a few examples suffice. Ralliis Icvipcs is ac- 
corded a length of 10 inches as over against 15 for California Clapper Rail, page 
1 5 ; Florida Gallinules are said to lay from six to ten eggs of a creamy buff 
color (no spots!) page 72; Coots, page 72, have the same retiring habits as Rails. 
( The writer had 246 Coots fighting for a chance at his loaf of bread this very 
day, yet there are two species of Rails which he has neve’' yet seen.) Cerylc 
lorqv.ata is said to be “somewhat larger than the above", that is, than the Belted 
Kingfisher, although the accompanying numerals proclaim it to be only 8^; 
inches long, as against 13 for Ccrylc alcyon. The Anna Hummer, the largest 
California species, page 142, is no longer than the Calliope, our smallest, etc., etc. 
Ifut it is only when we fully realize the difficulty which must beset the writer 
who would descant upon species two or three thousand miles away, above all to 
write a “guide” for them, that our appreciation of his courage rises to the boiling 
point. I give a dozen examples, selected at random from hundreds, to illustrate 
the difficulties which must inevitably attend such an attempt. We learn from thi:^ 
doughty volume that large numbers of California Murre eggs are taken yearlv 
to the San Francisco and other market places, etc. Of course this practice was 
discontinued many vears ago by Government order. The Glaucous-winged Gull is 
said to breed “from British Columbia northwards”, page 22. Its breeding range 
includes the west coast of Washington also. Bonaparte Gulls “are rarely found 
in the LI. S. with the black hood”, page 26. They are of regular occurrence in 
such plumage both going' and coming, as far south as vSanta Barbara. Larallori 
Cormorants breed in large numbers on the Farallones, page 39. Presumably, — 
only they don't. Alallards feed on molluscs and marine insects which they .gen- 
