Nov., 1914 PUBLICATIONS REVIEWED 265 curred in by the Committee, was that these are mere age differences. The authors of the present paper think that "there is one point that has been overlooked, with regard to the occurrence of these birds in E1 Paso County at least, and that is that 10saltr/a alone is the breeding form, so far as at present known, the dark forms not making their appearance until later, ar/zonae com- ing in July, and mexicanus the very last of July and first of August .... " No dark- colored birds have been discovered breeding in the County. The differences involved consist only in the relative degree of ex- tension of black on the dorsal surface. In the mind of the reviewer it is contrary to distributional precedent for three sub- sl0ecies to occur in a single place during the summer season in the way these goldfinches seem to do. It seems more likely that age does have something to do with the ob- served differences, and that these are height- ened by the effects of wear so that the monthly succession described becomes ex. plainable. Examination of skins from Cal- ifornia, from which state the same three forms used to be recorded, tends to support this conclusion. [Incidentally, the reviewer fails to find good grounds for separating the Pacific Coast bird, "hes?ero?hilus", from ?saltria. t] Aiken and Warren devote nearly six pages to an account of the House Finch ( Car?o?acus mexicanus lrontalis ). Among the various features of this bird treated, the matters of systematic position and molts deserve comment. It is stated that com- parison of specimens from E1 Paso County with others from California, Arizona and New Mexico, shows the local bird to pos- sess various characters of color and dimen- sions which seem to warrant separate recog- nition. The bird of Colorado east of the mountains would retain the name j?rontaZis, Say's description having been based upon a bird from the Arkansas Valley, while the more western and southern form would be called Car?odacus mexicanus obscurus Mc- Call. The known wide variation in House Finches of the Pacific Slope suggests cau- tion in considering these views, however. As to molts, the authors' experience shows that young male House Finches acquire the red plumage, practically indistinguishable from the adults, at the first fall change. But one individual exception to this rule, as far as their material has shown, is cited. It may here be remarked that although this condition of affairs has been clearly stated in print before, Chapman, in Bird.Lore (vol. xvx, March-April, 1914, page 107), states that the plumage changes in the House Finch "appear to be the same as those of the Purple Finch". This error is perhaps natural, in view of the close general simi- larity between the Linnets and Purple Finches. But the case teaches that extreme caution should be exercised in handling the often complicated problem of molts and plumages. Considerable irregularity is sometimes displayed within the same genus. Returning to the paper under review, enough has been said to indicate its general features and value. The authors are to be highly commended on furnishing their lo- cality with so useful a compendium of or- nithological knowledge. Local interest should be largely increased as a result.--J. GRINNELL. MINUTES OF COOPER CLUB MEETINGS NORTHERN DIVISION AvavST.?The regular monthly meeting of the Northern Division of the Cooper Ornith- ological Club was held in Room 101, East Hall, University of California, Berkeley, August 20, 1914, at 8 r. ?. President Bry- ant was in the chair with the following members present: Mesdames Allen and Grinnell, Miss Swezy, and Messrs. Bryant, Camp, Carriger, Dawson, Evermann, Grin- nell, Moran, Storer, Trenor and Wheeler. Several visitors were present. 'The program of the evening was first presented. Mr. William Leon Dawson spoke on "The Shorebirds of 1914" and illustrated his remarks with a series of excellent lan- tern slides prepared from photographs made during the present season at Los Barios, Santa Barbara and elsewhere in California. The business of the meeting was then taken up. The minutes of the Northern Di- vision for July were read and approved, fol- lowed by the reading of the Southern Divi- sion minutes for June and July. The fol- lowing were elected to membership: Dr. George Bird Grinnell, Miss Minnette Mac- Kay, Mr. Enos A. Mills, and Mrs.. Alfred Worcester. The following were proposed for membership: Miss Hazel King, 1898 Broadway, San Francisco. by Dr. William F. Bade; Mrs. Amy M. Bryant, 2533 Hill Court, Berkeley, by H. C. Bryant; Mr. Lee R. Dice, Prescott, Washington, Miss Amy E. Gunn, Mill Valley, Miss Frieda Luedde- mann, Box 105, Los Gatos, Miss Mary S. Storer, 467 San Pablo Avenue, Fresno, all proposed by Tracy I. Storer; Miss Dorothy Conger, 2425 Oregon street, Berkeley, by Miss Susan B. Culver. The ten names pro-
