Book News and Reviews
Black-crowned Night Herons.with numerous illustrations. and his photographs at Little Blue Herons and American Egrets. tlte former of which, in immature or white plumage. appear to be surprisingly common about Washington in the late summer.— F. M. C.
THE INHelttnuclz on Sour: m PAaSERlNE Blltos. By W. E. D.Scorr. Science.]une a... [904, p. 957; August 26. IVWJI. 282. Mr. Scott here presents another of his
careful studies of individual birds with par- ticular relation to the inheritance of song. The species treated are the Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Meadowlark. broods of both of which were reared by hand isolated from other birds of their kind. The details of Mr. Scott’s observations are exceedingly in» teresting. and his papers should be consulted by those interested in the subject of inheri- tance of nest-building ability as well as of song. Here we have only space IO say that neither Grosbeaks nor Meatlowlarks tlcvtl‘ oped the song of their species. but were both influenced by the notes of other species within their hearing; the former by an in- dian Bulbul. the song of which they ac- quired so exactly that it was tlitficult "to tell which species was singing." the latter by the European Blackbird.
Students of the molt in birds. in reading Mr. Scott’s statement that he is "strongly inclined to the opinion that there is a physical change in the feather itself, which alters its appearance so far as color is con- cerned," will wish that he would give at length the grounds on which this opinion is based—F. M. C.
The Ornithological Magazines
THE AUK.—‘The Auk‘ for July lur~ nishes an unusual amount of prnhtahle reading, and those of a speculative turn of mind will enjoy ‘A Discussion of the Origin of Migration' by P. A. Taverner. as well as ‘The Origin and Distribution of the Chestntlt»backed. Chickadee‘ by Grinnell. It is Mr. Tarerner's theory. perhaps not altogether a new one. that migration originated because certain areas. already fully peopled with birds. overflowed
l7i
when, wilh the advent of the nesting xtasnn these areas lailcd to afiortl an adequate food supply tor the additional young birds. I‘his was the cause of spring migration. Intl diminution of food in the hill gradually drove the overflow hack into winter quar- ters, limited bythe supporting powers of the land. most serious oi its kind yet offered hy a biological ornithologist or tlte motlern school. The Chestnut-backed antl the Hud- sonian Titlnouse are here tlerivetl lrotn :I
Mr. Grinnell's article is perhaps the
common ancestor. of which each was a gen- graphical race until isolation took place. The former now appears to have iurtlter difierentiated into three races. these hypothetical derivations are nicely shown by a map. The reader should re» member. however. that with a corner-stone
and all of
of hypothesis. a structure of graceful pro~ portions may be more tans-lint than real.
A classification of the Tyrannitlze aCCOl‘tl' ing to anatomical and other biological characters is advocated by H. Von lhering. anti ]. A. Allen illustrates the follies ol synonymy by the Word ‘Calliatat‘ta' spelled in eight diflercnt ways. In lighn-r \eill ate extracts from an unpublished journal of Audubon‘s by R. Deane. while W. W. Cooke and E. H. Eaton furnish some notes on migration. An annotated list of the birds of the upper Pecos Rirsr. New Mexico. is written in Mrs. F. M. Bailey‘s pleasanl style, but we regret to see 'Bairtl Sparrow.‘ ‘\'irginia Warbler.‘ elc.. ad- mitted to the ‘Attk' instead of the posses- sive rast being usetl. Evolution may some day eliminate the s' as unlit. hut except in geography it is still customary to urite English as 'shc is wtote.‘
A thirteenth supplement to the A. 0. l'. Check-List closes the magazine. in which other matters of interest will be Iountl he-
sides the one: touched upon so briefly.—
l. D..]r.
Book News
Mr. H, E. Dresser has issued a prospec» ms of his lorthmming work on ‘The Eggs of the Birds oi Europe.‘ details of which may be obtained from the author at 3 Han- over Square. London. w.
