44 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XVI 
ing- important resources of Oregon. There is 
no reason why the State should not use her 
wild birds and animals as a prudent farmer 
protects and uses his hocks and herds. Game 
protection and game propagation is a busi- 
ness proposition not onlj- for the man wlro 
lives in the city, but for the farmer, the fruit 
grower and the timlier man. Game laws and 
game protection cannot be made effective un- 
til we get the real interest of the farmers, 
homesteaders, and other land owners 
throughout the state. 
“Game protection is not a political ques- 
tion. Nor is it entirely a legal question. It 
has an economic aspect, and above all it 
re(iuires educational work.” 
The November number cites five instances 
of accidental shooting during the past deer 
season and gives the following warning to 
hunters: "Hnnters should never shoot 
at moving brush, leaves or grass with the ex- 
pectation of killing game. It is dangerous, 
for the moving object is likely to be a man. 
Never shoot at any object until you a,re ab- 
solutely positive of identification." The main 
article of this issue is entitled “Refuges for 
wild birds and animals.” Thus it can be 
seen that the contents of “The Oregon 
Sportsman” is of the eminently appropriate 
sort. 
But setting aside the material itself, it is 
the idea embodied that appeals to the re- 
viewer ; for he believes that there can be no 
consistent obedience to the law without a 
knowledge of the necessity for the law and 
some sympathy for it. Mr. Finle 3 q State 
Game Warden of Oregon, by means of edu 
cation, is laying a sure and sound foundation 
not only for the automatic enforcement of 
game laws hut for the conservation of Ore- 
gon's natural resources. — H. C. Bryant. 
Some Bums of the Fresno District, Cali- 
fornia. By John G. TylEr (Pacific Coast 
Avifauna, no. 9, Oct. 1, 1913, pp. 1-114). 
The Pacific Coast Avifauna series, pub- 
lished by the Cooper Ornithological Club, 
has just received another addition to its al- 
ready long list of valuable papers published 
under that head. Number 9 of this series is 
a non-technical paper dealing purely with life 
histories and the manner of occurrence in 
the region of the species treated. 
One hundred and sixty-one species are 
listed, evidently not a complete catalogue of 
the birds of the region, as a number of 
species not included are known at least to 
migrate through the state in general, and un- 
douhtedh' will l)e found eventually in the 
Fresno region. Accounts are well written 
and accurate, the description of flights of 
Turkey Buz^ards being a good example of 
tlie scores of vivid pictures of com- 
mon phases of the lives of familiar birds, 
things recognizable at once to all bird stu- 
dents, and yet very seldom put into print. 
The author adheres closely to the usages of 
the 1910 edition of the A. O. U. Check-List , 
evidently wishing to avoid discussion of the 
technicalities of nomenclature and classifica- 
tion, and to make his contribution purely 
one of the life-histories of birds. The only 
exception noted is his treatment of the San 
Joaquin Valley Wren, for which he uses 
the name drymoccus, rather than include it 
under charicntunis, as in the Check-List. 
In the case of the red-breasted Sapsucker 
the binomial Sphyrapicus ruber is used in- 
stead of the trinomial S. ruber ruber, the uni- 
form usage throughout the remainder of the 
paper, apparently as a passive protest against 
the treatment accorded this species in the 
Check-List, which, however, through the 
poliev’ adopted in the paper, he feels obliged 
to follow. In the cases of the Red-breasted 
Sapsucker, Brown Towhee and Blue Gros- 
beak, although the Check-List name is the 
one used, brief footnotes, or else a state- 
ment in the text, contain references to dis- 
senting opinions. 
The paper will serve as a striking exam- 
ple of the excellent work that can be done 
by a maximum amount of careful and ac- 
curate bird observation, with a minimum of 
bird killing. The identifications are care- 
fully made, nevertheless, and where there 
was doubt specimens were collected and sub- 
mitted to experts. The small amount of 
collecting is reflected, however, in the rather 
uneven balance of certain subspecies, and also 
in the alisence from the list of some birds, 
which, with hardly a doubt occur in the general 
region. Thus the occurrence of Meiospizu 
Hucolni striata, Passcrella iliaca schistacea, 
and Hylocichla guttata uanus, together witn 
the absence of Melos pica lincohii liucolui, 
Passcrella iliaca mcgarhyucha, and rlylc- 
cichla guttata guttata, if truly indicative of 
conditions, is a rather remarkable state of 
affairs deserving of careful investigation. No 
doubt is meant to lie cast upon the accuracy 
of the identification of the specimens col- 
lected, hut it seems probable that more exten- 
sive collecting would show that by chance 
some of the more uncommon visitants were 
gathered in, while more common ones were 
not secured. The notes on the humming- 
birds also could probably he considerably 
extended by a careful collection of specimens. 
The paper should be very useful in many 
w'ays. It is a reliable record of present con- 
ditions in a rapidly changing region ; stu- 
dents of life-histories of birds, and of dis- 
