148 THE CONDOR [ Vol. IV the region. These were prepared by Mr. Wal- ter Deane, Mr. Brewster's Assistant, and give evidence of much pains-taking labor, which only those who have attempted similar work can appreciate. While evidently exhaustive for the Cape Region of Lower California, and meant to cov- er that region chiefly, the accounts of many species cover the whole peninsula and often extend to include the entire coast. Thus im- portant remarks are made in regard to a num- ber of birds in Southern California and the State generally. JDendroica cestzva sonorana is for the first time attributed to California on the basis of a skin in Mr. Brewster's collection taken by Stephens at Riverside, Sept. I4, i88I. This race of the yellow warbler may therefore be expected as a spring visitan( to the extreme southwest con?er of the State. We of the Pacific Coast are grateful to Mr. Brewster for the present comprehensive review of the birds of the Cape Region. It is very convenient to have at hand a paper of the pre- sent character to which one may turn for the latest information on the region, knowing it to be authoritative as well. One not familiar with the scattered local literature might floun- der about for hours for some fact in the distri- bution or life history of a southern species, when a moment's reference to such a paper as this would settle the point so far as known. We can only wish for more works of a similar nature for the different areas of the West,-- CHAPMAN ON ALASKAN BIRDS'X'--Mr. Chap- man reports on a collection of birds received from the Kenai Peninsula and vicinity, giving a list of sixty-eight species with notes by the field collector. The westward extension of the known ranges of Dendroica townsendi, Spinus pinus and Empidona.r trailli is of particular note. Mr. Chapman adds critical notes of gen- eral interest on several species. The nomen- clature of the ?arus hudsonicus group of forms receives another shuffle, the third within a few years. Lagopus leucurus peninsularis is de- scribes as new, and at the same time the Rocky Mountain race (altipetens) is lumped with Lagapus leucurus proper. This is simply re- versing the case as worked out by Osgood two years ago. Also a form of the Steller jay which he names Cyanocilta stelleri borealis is described from the Renal Peninsula. It is "in- termediate in color between the Queen Char- lotte Island bird and that inhabitating the (ad- jacent) coast," though geographically removed from the former. Judging from the description
- List of Birds Collected in Alaska by the Andrew J.
Stone Expedition of t9oI. By Frank Iv[. Chapman. --Brillerin Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. XVI, Aug. 18, x9o?, pp. 231-247. the distinguishing characters are as slight as have been so far adduced by any author to con- stitute a nameable form. We believe that all discernible geographical races occupying defin- ite areas should be supplied with a name, even though they be recklessly diagnosed as "not worth the naming" by many specimen-labellers and popular writers. Evidently from the pres- ent paper and other scientific articles by the same author Mr. Chapman believes so too. But the Audubonist who reads only "Bird- Lore" would not think so after perusing the various editorials and reviews in that magazine. SNODGRASS AND HELLER ON BIRDS OF CLIPPERI'ON AND COCOS ISLANDS?--The present paper opens with a description of the physiographic features of Clipperton and Cocos Islands, the former having "the distinc- tion of being the only coral island in the east- ern Pacific. Under the Systematic Account of Birds are listed fifteen species, five of which are land forms: Coccyzus ferrugineus,Aresolriccus ridg- wayi, Cocornis agassizi, Dendroica aureola from Cocos, and Chelidon erythrogater? from Clipperton. The greater part of the paper con- sists of technical descriptions of the species. The measurements given of Gygis candida (=(9. alba Sparrm.) would indicate the form called Gygis alba kitllitzi, by Harteft (Caroline Is.). J?icranous diamesus, discovered by the expedition, is intermediate between 3/. leuco- capillus and 3/. hawaiicrisis. A comparison of the type of diamesus with several fully adult specimens of hawaiicrisis from Laysan Id. shows that the color differences can not be de- pended upon inasmuch as the color of hawaii- crisis is variable, a specimen matching quite satisfactorily the type of diamesus. Further- more the bill of the fully adult hawaiicrisis specimens are the same length as that of the type of diamesus. The species must rest then on the slightly longer wing, tail, and middle toe, and stouter bill. Sula nesiotes from Clip- perton is a species similar to Sula brewslevi, somewhat larger with the brownish color of the head and upper parts considerably paler. The measurements of Cocornis agassizi are unfortu- nately listed as of "C. ?dgwayi." The expedition so successfully carried on in I898-99 by Mr. Shodgrass and Mr. Heller added to the region under consideration :}icranous diamesus and Sula nesiotes, both new. The pres- ent paper is certainly an important addition to our knowledge of the ornis of Cocos and Clip- perton Islands.--W. K. F.
- Papers from the Hopl?ins Stanford Galapagos Expedi-
tion, i898-i899. XI. The Birds of Clipperton and Cocos Islands. By Robert Evans Shodgrass and Edmund Heller. --Proc. Washington Acad. So. IV, pp. 5o?-5=o. Sept. 30, ?oo=.
