Book News and Reviews
whose camera gives us an insight into their daily doingsr Isolation has hitherto pro- tected the few species of Iand~birds and many sea-birds tonan on Laysan, but now that man has a foothold on the island. there may he work But out for the Audubon Soci» eties in the near future.
Three letters of Audubon are brought to light by s, N. Rhoads. The Black-winged Tanager of South America is d cussed by A. H. Clark. and a new species of Night» hawk from the Bahamas, (Iltarrleilz; wir- gininrmr I'irinus. is named by j. H, Riley,
Reviews, notes. etc.. together with index and list of members. complete the number. The current volume, containing 430 pages. is the largest ever uflered to the readers of "I‘he Auk,‘ with tlte one exception of rust ——J. D . jr.
THE Ctmuoni'l‘he September number of ‘The Condor‘ contains four main arti- cles The first. entitled 'With the Mearns Quail in Southwestern Texas,’ by Fuertes. is illustrated with three text figures and a st ,2 frontispiece showing the different positions assumed by the bird's Crest, Not- withstanding thc conspicuous plumage of this quail. it is shown that the peculiar markings are in some measure, at least, pro- tective. when considered in connection with the bird‘s habit and habitatr "The very contrasts which look so conspicuous when seen in the hand, isolated from the sharp lights and shadows of the nalural environ~ ment. serve to so “cut up' the creature that
in nature all semblance of a bird is lost." Underthe heading ‘ Some Observations on the Nesting Habits of the Prairie Falcon,’ Cohen gives a summary or his notes on Palm ml'xirartu: in the San Francisco Bay region. where the bird is now very rare. ‘Bird Life on the Farallone Islands,’ by Kaeding, is the first published account of the visit made to the Islands by the A, 0. U. party in June. .903. The paper is illus- trated with six halt-tones. and concludes with a list of seventeen species of birds ob- served. Illustrations and descriptions how» ever, no matter how elaborate, give btlt little idea of the real conditions existing on this wonderful bird colony, It must be seen to be fully appreciated. anti, as the author
203
truthfully says, "a trip to the Farallones is a liberal education." The first instal- ment of ‘A List of the Birds Observed in Cochise County, Arizona,’ from November r. t894. to June 1. r895. is contributed by Osgood,
WILSON BUI.LETIX.—Number 44 of "Phi: Wilson Bulletin‘ contains four Communi- cations of interest. The opening one, by Mrs, Elizabeth B, Davenport, relates to the “Birds Observed on Mt. Mansfield [Ver- mont] and the West End of Stowe Valley at the base of the Mountains, in the Sum— mer of 19oz.y The titles of the three other papers are as follows: ‘A Nest or the VVest~ ern Horned Owl.’ by E. R, Warren: “Winter Birds ni Central Park, New York City,’ b\' C. Hr Rogers; and ‘ The Tents of tlte Weepecltet Islands. Massachusetts.‘ by Lynds lonea.
With the exception of four days, Mrs. Davenport devoted a considerable part of the time between June 6 and July 3r to col- lecling data for her paper. and was forttl~ nate enough to secure notes on sevenlyvfour species of birds, all of which. with the ex- ception of the land-birds.
Charles H. Rogers has given a summary at his olyservations covering three seasons. on the winter birds of Central Park. ' he thirty—three species noted are divided itlto ‘ Winter Visitors.‘ ‘ Permanent Resltlrnts.‘ ‘Uccasionnl Stragglers from the Cutlntry,‘ and winter birds that ltave been observed. but not during the winter months. In t881 Dr. E. A. hle-arns published a series of articles in the New York giving an annotated list or the birds tonntl in the park. which. if we remember t‘or- rectly, include observations on the “inter visitors. It might be instructive to com- pare the two lists, which were prepared twenty-five years apart. Lynds Jones gives an interesting paper covering his obser-
Spotted Sand pi per. were
‘Ohsert'erfi
vations made during the past summer among the Common Terns and Roseate Terns on the Weepecket * ands. He had
a good opportunity to stlttlv these birds on their nesting grounds, aml was able to gather some valuable information concern- ing their life histories—Ar K. F.
