14 TH EA U-D U-BiOEN] EU Ee heii 
Book Reviews 
A GUIDE TO BIRD FINDING EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI, by Olin Sewall 
Pettingill, Jr. Illustrated by George Miksch Sutton. Oxford University 
Press, 115 Fifth Ave., New York. $5.00. 
Twenty-six states east of the Mississippi are covered by the author in 
659 pages of rather fine print, probably in order to approximate the size of 
other books of similar nature. This includes a complete reference index ‘to 
all birds mentioned, to localities described, and to other publications. 
The twenty-four chapters divide the states into localities, together with 
directions for reaching them, and listing the birds more commonly seen 
therein, with their special habitats. The geology and the plant communities 
are mentioned, particulary where they influence the bird population. Not 
only the National, state and local parks are covered, but the smaller units 
of marshland, prairie, wood and lakeshore near cities large and small 
are listed, with specific directions for reaching them. 
Apparently the lists of birds for each locality are limited to those 
reasonably certain to be seen. For this, the author had to depend somewhat 
on his collaborators, who are given due credit. Several years ago, at the 
request of the Fish and Wildlife Service, Karl Bartel and this reviewer 
listed a considerable number of birds at the Seney Wildlife Refuge, adding 
13 species to the previously known records. At that time the most common 
broods of immature ducks were the hooded mergansers, identified by a 
specimen sent to Prof. Van Tine. Both the American and red-breasted 
were present, but then in the minority. Also a saw whet owl, immature, 
was picked up dead and identified by Prof. Van Tine. 
The ruffed grouse credited to the dunes region near Chicago, where 
it formerly bred, is, alas, no longer there. The dates of the height of warbler 
migration on the wooded island in Jackson Park (Chicago) given as May 
6-10, probably averages nearly a week later. As many as 20 species 
of warblers seen in one day are reported by early rising observers, and 
250 species in one year for the Chicago area are listed by the more indus- 
trious members of the Illinois Audubon Society. 
The black and white illustrations by Mr. Sutton are so good that, to 
this reviewer’s imagination, the correct colors seem present. Altogether, 
this book is to the bird lover away from home what the motor club directory 
of restaurants and hotels is to the ordinary traveler. Much information 
is crowded into its pages; it will, no doubt, eventually have to be enlarged 
or divided into two volumes. 
Dr. Alfred Lewy, 25 E. Washington Blvd., Chicaga 
