Mar., 1914 
COMMUNICATIONS 
97 
a clean hand of criticism and good fellowship 
stretched across the intervening States? 
Hiimanum est errare. 
With sincerity and honesty of purpose, I 
I emain, 
Most respectfully, 
A. O. Treganza. 
Salt Lake City, Utah, January, 7 , 1914 . 
PUBLICATIONS REVIEWED 
The Birds of Connecticut. By John Haul 
Sage and Louis Bennett Bishop, assistea uy 
Waeter Parks Beiss. [= State of Connecti- 
cut, Public Document No. 47. State Geological 
and Natural History Survey Bulletin No. 20. 
1913. Pp. 1-370.J 
The authors’ names are sufficient assurance 
of the general excellence of this, the latest 
state list of birds to make its appearance. Un- 
der each species is uniformly careful and 
methodical entry of data pertaining to the vari- 
ous phases of the subject here considered, a 
general statement of the status of the bird 
within the state, followed by migration dates, 
particulars of nesting sites and dates, un- 
usual records, and such additional comments 
as seem to be called for. About half the book 
is taken up by the introduction and the body 
of the list. The remainder of the volume is 
cccupied by various appendices to part one — 
a catalogue of introduced species and those of 
doubtful standing, a statistical summary, list 
of observers, and bibliography — and by part 
two, a treatise on the economic ornithology 
of the region, compiled by Dr. Bishop. 
.A summary of the list gives a total of 334 
species for the state, divided as follows : resi- 
dents, 80, summer residents, 78, winter resi- 
dents, 38, transient visitors, 124, accidental 
visitors, 89. The long list of accidentals, sec- 
ond only to the transients in numbers, is prob- 
ably one result of the host of observers en- 
listed in furtherance of the work, the catalogue 
of whose names occupies nearly four pages. 
The portion of the report treating of the 
economic aspect of the subject is largely a 
judicious compilation of data pertaining to 
species occurring in Connecticut, and is un- 
doubtedly an accurate portrayal of the rela- 
tions of these birds to their surroundings. In 
fact the whole book strikes one as an emin- 
ently “solid” and dependable piece of work. 
The authors’ attitude toward questionable re- 
cords, well illustrated in the introduction in 
their protest against the acceptance of “opera- 
glass” records of rare or unusual species, as 
well as in other matters, would be calculated 
to inspire confidence in their statements, even 
without a knowledge of their previous years 
of brilliant accomplishment in the field oi 
ornithology. — H. S. Swarth. 
An Account of the Birds and Mammals 
OF THE San Jacinto Area of Southern Cali- 
fornia, WITH Remarks upon the Behavior 
OF Geographic Races on the Margins or 
THEIR Habitats. By J. Grinnell and H. S. 
Swarth (Univ. Calif. Publ. Zook, vcl. 10, 
October 31, 1913, pp. 197-406, pis. 6-10, 3 text 
fi.§s.). 
In this comprehensive paper of 210 pages, 
are clearly set forth the results of a sum- 
mer’s reconnoissance in and about the San 
Jacinto Mountains, undertaken in 1908 by the 
newly organized staff of the Museum of Ver- 
tebrate Zoology. The report embodies the 
work of two field parties, each of several 
members, the one which was headed by the 
authors maintained from the 18th of ^lay to 
the 5th of September ; and the other, under 
Messrs. Taylor and Richardson, from the 1st 
of May till' July 12th. Both because of the 
wide experience of the leaders and the in- 
dustry of their helpers, a large amount of 
museum material (including 1533 bird skins) 
was secured, and a fairly exhaustive survey 
was made of this interesting and topograph- 
ically well-defined area. The report itself is 
notable as a piece of schola-rly workmanship ; 
and so far as method, accuracy, and lucidity 
are concerned, is unquestionably a model of 
its kind. 
After a careful description of localities 01 
base camps, and a brief exposition of the 
ecological elements involved, there appears a 
chcck-list of 169 species of birds encountered 
in the course of the season, followed by a 
carefully annotated account of the birds them 
selves. While each account aims primarily 
to summarize the status of the species from 
a taxonomic and ecological view point, a 
gratifying amount of biographical material is 
introduced, and our demand to know the 
most possible about the lesser known is com- 
mendably satisfied. Thus, we have, quite ap- 
propriately, a mere half-page devoted to the 
well-known Audubon Warbler, as .against six 
pages given to the Gray Vireo, a bird about 
which we are still very curious. 
in like manner also, the mammals, of 63 
forms, are listed and described. 
From a taxonomic standpoint this paper 
gives much ground for satisfaction, and 
leaves little to be desired. To our distinct 
relief there are no new forms described, not 
even a sub-species. Better than that, the 
abundant material secured enables the authors 
definitely to discredit, at least as birds of 
California, several alleged varieties which 
have hitherto cumbered our check-lists : 
Or forty X picta conhnis, Apheloconia calif ar- 
nica obsenra, Vireo vicinior calif ornietts, and 
Sialia mexicana anabelac. Most astonishing 
of all, the Gray Flycatcher, Entpidonax 
griscus, which used to bulk so large in south- 
