appear that here is an excellent opportunity of gathering in a brazen violator of the law, who does not respect the common property and rights of others.
The Western Ornithologist, dated Vol. V. No. 1. January-February 1900, has made its appearance and announces itself as a continuation of the Iowa Ornithologist, formerly edited by David L. Savage, who now becomes associate editor, while Chas. C. Tryon assumes editorial control, the publication being issued from Avoca. Iowa. The initial number is a very creditable one in every way, consisting of 24 pages of text, printed on coated paper with an appropriate cover, and verv similar in makeup to the current ornithological magazines. The leading article is on "The Plumage of the Bluejay," by Morton E. Peck. Five other interesting articles of length, several illustrations and short notes complete the issue. The publication makes a promising start, and will, we trust, prove a permanent organ for workers in the Middle States.
***
Book Reviews.
Bird Notes Afield. By Chas. A. Keeler, pp. 1-233, with appendix and key 237-353. Elder & Shepard. San Francisco. $1.50 net.
In the present work Mr. Keeler has given the public a series of entertaining essays on the characteristic birds of California, and has done it so cleverly that even those who are wont to judge bird literature by its scientific aspect alone must follow Mr. Keeler's sketches afield with keen pleasure. The author states in the preface that the work has not been written for scientists, but the descriptive talks pear evidence of the author's intimate knowledge of technical ornithology, for the work is commendable in being at once a popular treatise, yet everywhere marked with accuracy of descriptions.
Bird Notes Afield consists of thirteen essays, under titles such as "A First Glance at the Birds," "Patrolling the Beach," "A Trip to the Farallones," "March in the Pine Woods," "Nesting Time," etc., each chapter covering concisely the birds which a beginner would most likely meet in the surroundings described in the chapter. Each essay is descriptive of experiences and impressions which every ornithologist has enjoyed in counterpart afield, and the work therefore becomes one which we can appreciate. The author states in his mention of the nest-building of Anna's Humumingbird (p. 200) that "both parents labor upon the home."? This statement will be questioned by many observers who have failed to detect the male bird assisting in the construction of the nest.
An artificial key to the land birds of California occupies the remaining 116 pages and is most creditable in its arrangement, and by its use the beginner should be able to identify many of our common birds at least. In the key the distribution of species has wisely been fixed chiefly from Belding's Land Birds of the Pacific District. The volume with its key; completes one of the ablest initiatory works on California birds that has been given the public, and those who are seeking a work of this scope will not be slow in according Mr. Keeler's book the recognition it easily merits.
C. B.
Loomis.—California Water Birds. No. IV.[1]
This is a continuation of Mr. Loomis's observations on the water birds off the coast of Monterey County. Twenty-five pages are taken up with a detailed "Calendar" or diary of daily observations made from: Sept. 18 to Nov. 14, 1896. Special notes were made on any phenomena which might hear on the subject of migration. Six pages at the close of the paper are devoted to a briefly annotated list of the species detected. Binomials, alone, are used in this list, the third or subspecific names of the races being omitted. A notable addition to the list of North American Birds is here for the first time recorded; viz., Buller's Shearwater (Puffinus bulleri); a ♀ "perhaps a young one," was taken by Mr. Loomis six miles west of Point Pinos. Nov. 6, 1896. It is the fourth specimen known to science, the other three having been obtained in "New Zealand seas."
Under the head of "Conclusions" comes thirteen pages constituting the important part of the paper, which is, in fact, an essay on migration. Mr. Loomis here sets forth his views on the method and causes of migration, and the evidence or data on which these are based. The subjects are simply and clearly presented, yet condensed so as to be entirely devoid of superfluity. Abundant references in the footnotes attest Mr. Loomis's familiarity with literature pertaining to the questions in hand, and the whole matter is evidently the results of long and careful study. The present reviewer is not sufficiently well informed on the subject to be able to intelligently discuss this article, and he can do little but touch on one or two points which happen to appeal to him.
Under the heading "Guidance by Physical Phenomena," observations are cited of migrating Shearwaters becoming apparently bewildered when the land was hidden by a fog, and of their immediately resuming their way when the fog was dispelled sufficiently to reveal the land-marks. Local species which were familiar with the neighborhood did not evince this bewilderment, but seemed to keep their bearings. "Perhaps those moving at considerable elevation are guided by the mountain tops which rise above the low vapors." In the case of migrants over the sea "currents and winds may possibly be the directing phenomena." These directions seem to prove: 1. That the Shear-
- ↑ Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. Third Series. Zoology. Vol. II. No. 3. With one plate (a map). Issued Feb. 12, 1900. By Leverett M. Loomis.
