202
of the status of several Mexican species (chiefly Quail) recently discredited by Mr. Ogilvie-Gtant. Two half-tone plates seem to sustain Mr. Nelson's views. ‘A De- scription of the Adult Black Merlin,’ by F, H. Ecltstorm. shows ingenuity, introduc- ing, for instance." high lights" to "demark" a crown patch otherwise concolor. ‘A Hybrid between thc Cliff and Tree Swal— lows'is described by F. M. Chapman, and C, Wt Wickham writes on the ‘Sickler billed Curlewr’ There is much of interest among the numerous notes and reviews that fill thirty pages.#], 1).. Jr.
THE CoNDoR,——The leading articles of the September-October number of ‘The Condor' are very appropriately devoted to the life and work of Dr. James G. Cooper, the distinguished ornithologist and natu- ralist, who died July lg, 1902, and in whose honor the Cooper Ornithological Club was nalned. His death marks the passing of the last of the naturalists connected with the Pacific Railroad Surveys who laid the foundations of our knowledge of western birds. The brief but sympathetic bio- graphical sketch by Emerson is illustrated by reproductions of a photograph of Dr. Cooper taken in 1865. and a view of his home ar Haywards, Dr. Cooper attained the age of seventy-two years, and during the forty years in which
Californiat
his researches were activelv carried on,
published about seventyrme papers on the natural history of the Pacific ('uast. titles of his ornithological writings have been collected by Grinllell. who contributes a complete annotated list of twenty»six papers, the most important of which are the report on the birds of Washington. in the reports of the Pacific Railroad Surveys. 1860, and the ‘Ornithology of California.’ .370,
The hrstpart of an important paper on ‘ ’I‘he Redwood Belt of Northwestern Cali- fornia,’ by Walter K. Fisher, is devoted to a discussion of the fauna] peculiarities of the region. Lists of plants and birds are ven, and the dilficul- ties attending a precise definition of the life ‘ The
The
the characteristic
lanes oi this belt are clearly shown.
'of 1894 to that of r902.
Bird- Lore
status of the Arizona Goldfinch in Califor- nia‘ is reviewed by Grinnell, who con- cludes that the so-called Amagalinur pm!- Irt‘a arizanae which is found in California is merely a peculiar plumage of A. prallrin, in which the black dorsal markings are unusually extended. Two other papers which merit special mention an: Barlow’s ‘Observa 'ons on the Rufous~crowned Sparrow,’ illustrated by an excellent half- tone of the nest and eggs; and Sharp‘s ‘Nesting of the Swainson Hawk,‘ The latter article contains the curious misstate- ment that the bird‘s food supply “ consists wholly of those four-footed pests which every farmer and ranchman recognizes as among his worst enemies.” As a matter of fact, Swainson‘s Hawk is remarkable for the large number of grasshoppers it destroys. A specimen which I examined at Pomona, California. on August 3r, r887, contained the heads of more than one hundred and thirty of these insects—T. S. P.
WlLsuh‘ BULLE'HN.7‘ Wilson Bulletin’ No. 40 contains a number of interesting papers, but we can not help regretting the This tendency among natural history magazines lo delay puhlieation tar beyond the designated pe- riod is a growing evil. and is one tor which there The tault usually lies with the contrihutors, whose belated ideas prevent the goodmatured editors from liberating the proof at the proper time. All. however. should have sufficient pride to be willing to cooperate with the editors in making the magazines business-like pro- ductions.
The opening paper by Rev. w. F. Hen- ninger on the Birds of Scioto and Pike counties, Ohio, is awell-prepared annotated list covering 2t6 species. classified under the following categories: residents, 42: summer residents, 6t; regular transients, 65; irregular and rarer transients, 27: win- ter residentsI lo; accidental visitors, 7; extinct, 2: introduced, 2. The observa- tions were made chiefly at three localities and ran through a period from the summer Notes on the ar- rival and departure are given for many at
lateness of its arrival.
is little excuse.
