264 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XVI 
Marsh at the head of Cayuga Lake, near 
Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, and 
cover a period of several years. Mr. Allen 
begins the paper with a description of the 
topographic features of the marsh, its cli- 
matic conditions and zonal position. The 
floras and vertebrate faunas of the several 
associations are described in detail. The 
following seven associations are distin- 
guished: open-water, shore-line, cat-tail, 
sedge, grass, alder-willow, and maple-elm. 
Some attention is devoted to the succession 
of associations and the factors which con- 
trol such succession. A graphic representa- 
tion following a method commonly used by 
paleontologists to portray the persistence of 
faunas shows the associational distribution 
of the commoner birds and aids in making 
clear, this, to some, rather intangible segre- 
gation of species. 
After thus describing its environment, the 
life history and ecology of the Red-wing are 
taken up, the following topics being consid- 
ered: Spring migration, mating and song, 
nesting, the young, fail migration, enemies, 
molt and plumage, food and food supply, 
correlation between changes in food and 
changes in structure of stomach, and corre- 
lation of changes occurring in the reproduct- 
ive organs. 
Seven categories of individuals during the 
spring migration are distinguished. These, 
with their typical dates of arrival at Ren- 
wick Marsh, are as follows: “Vagrants”, 
Feb. 25-Mar. 4; Migrant adult males. Mar. 
13-Apr. 21; Resident adult males. Mar. 25- 
Apr. 10; Migrant adult females and imma- 
ture males. Mar. 29-Apr. 24; Resident adult 
females, Apr. 10-May 1; Resident immature 
males, May 6-June 1; Resident immature 
females, May 10-June 11. 
Mr. Allen solves the “mysterious disap- 
pearance” of the Red-wings for a period 
after the breeding season by finding that 
the period in question is that of active molt 
and that the birds then restrict themselves 
to the thick growths of tules where they 
are secure from their enemies. A correla- 
tion between the nature of the food and the 
structure of the stomach was discovered. 
The musculature of that organ becomes 
heavier when the birds are feeding upon 
seeds than when they are subsisting upon 
insects. 
Perhaps the most novel thing in the whole 
paper is Plate XXI which shows the rela- 
tive development of the testes and ovaries 
in resident and migrant birds. A gradual 
increase in size is demonstrated in both res- 
idents and migrants; but corresponding 
stages appear a month later in the latter 
category, so that of two birds collected on 
any one day in March or April in the same 
locality, the organs of the resident will be 
much more fully developed than in the mi- 
grant. 
Altogether the paper is an excellent ex- 
ample of painstaking, intensive work, re- 
plete with observations and relatively free 
from speculation. Mr. Allen has furnished 
a standard that future students in the same 
field may follow to advantage. It will also 
serve well as a source of information for 
teachers of ornithology. — Tkacy I. Stoeek. 
The Birds | of | El Paso County | Col- 
orado I By Charles E. H. Aiken | and | 
Edward R. Warren | Director of the Muse- 
um, Colorado College | Parts I and II.=Col- 
orado College Publication; general series, 
nos. 74, 75, 76; science series vol. xii, no. 13, 
1 , pp. 4-1-455-496, 2 maps, 16 half-tone figs, on 
8 pis.; II, pp. 2-1-497-603-1-9 (unpaged index), 
pis. ix-xxiv which contain half-tone figs. 16- 
45. Dates on covers: i, May, 1914; ii, June- 
September, 1914. Our copy, both parts, re- 
ceived July 20, 1914. 
We have here the most comprehensive 
county bird list that has come to our atten- 
tion for a long time. It is far more than a 
faunal list, nearly every species being ac- 
corded more or less biographical treatment, 
besides full distributional consideration, 
and occasional critical or systematic notice. 
The association of these two authors is a 
happy one. Mr. Aiken, truly a pioneer, 
came to Colorado Springs in 1871, and his 
large collections and notes covering a long 
period of years contribute to the complete- 
ness of the report. The junior author, Mr. 
Warren, has been doing bird work in El 
Paso County steadily for the past dozen 
years. To him has evidently fallen most of 
the work of compiling the text and seeing 
to the details of publication. 
The paper includes, besides the main 
annotated list, paragraphs or chapters on 
topography, life zones, climate, history, 
bibliography, and analysis of the avifauna. 
Two maps acquaint the reader with the lay 
of the land; while forty-five half-tone cuts 
of birds, nests, and eggs add decidedly to 
the attractiveness of the paper. 
We have found in this contribution sev- 
eral points of particular interest, to only 
two of which, however, can space here be 
spared for reference. Exception is taken 
by Aiken and Warren to the ruling of the 
A. O. U. Committee regarding the occur- 
rence in Colorado of all three forms of A$- 
tragalinus psaltria, namely, psaltria, arizo- 
nae, and mexicanus. Oberholser’s view, con- 
