Mar., 1919 puBLICATIONS REVIEWED 93 The technical matter useful to the special student of birds is found condensed in small type at the head of each discussion. This makes reference to the finer characters of each species easy, and at the same time seg- regates this formal matter from the more readable text following. The plan of treatment of each bird follows a regular sequence: Technical portion (in small type): Accepted common and scien- tific names; other names; description: adult male, adult female, juvenile, downy young; marks for field identification; voice; nest; eggs; general distribution; distribution in California. Text (in large type): General and local distribution; migration; field marks; life history; nest, eggs, young; hab- its and behavior; food; economic value; present and probable future status. Every one of the 108 native game birds of the state is described in detail, these includ- ing the ducks, geese, swans, ibises, cranes, rails, snipe, sandpipers, curlew, plover, quail, grouse, pigeons and doves. The localities in which each is found, and the times of the year when it is found, are designated and its life history and habits are accurately and well described. Some of the life histories are unusually full--notably those of the commoner and more popularly known species; and while justice is done to the observations of previ- ous workers, much new material of sterling worth is woven into the entire fabric of the book. Thus it is a substantial contribution to science--to the body of ascertained fact. All through the book especial attention is given to those distinctive characters of a bird that help to make it recognizable from other species when alive, at a distance. A useful field'manual is thereby provided. A dependable key to the various species makes possible the identification of any specimen in hand. The index contains all the com- mon as well as the scientific names, thus making it easy to locate any bird, provided some name is known, even though this name be a very local, popular one. Unquestionably the sixteen colored plates contribute very materially to the usefulness and attractiveness of the book. Thirteen are by Fuertes and the rest by Allan Brooks ---all in the happiest vein of these accom- plished artists. Twenty-one different game birds are figured in color, and the portraits are not only aesthetically satisfying, but em- inently informative as well--two qualities which are not necessarily associated. The figures depict the birds in their character- istic, or usual, Californian environment-- and let me emphatically state that these are no T-perch effigies, but real live birds, transferred in miniature to the printed page, retaining all the vitality of a "cinematic" likeness. For instance, feel the perceptible "honk" of the geese on plate 6, or the hurry of the rail stepping off on plate 9; or the quiet animation of the quail in plate 1, or the dynamic quality of the mudhens of plate 10. The ninety-four line drawings in the text serve largely to illustrate characters of plumage, bill, or feet, such as are especially helpful in identifying the different kinds o[ game birds. Much credit is due to a Berkeley gentle- man, whose name is withheld, and to Miss Annie M. Alexander for providing the "sin- ews of war"; to the former for supplying funds to carry on the economic work and to the latter "for the continued financial support, furnished in generous measure" to the ,Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, through whose opportunities the game bird book was brought to a conclusion. Certainly everyone interested in Califor- nia birds will wish to possess this book. If little has been said directly concerning the text, it has been because the reputation of the authors has seemed to the reviewer to render such special commendation superflu- ous. ,From Grinnell, Bryant, and Storer a high grade of work is a matter of course, since they stand high in the Bradstreet of ornithology. Theirs must be the satisfaction of craftsmen who have done something bet- ter than it has been done before; and they are to be'congratulated for having so worth- ily represented their institution in the com- memorative series of the Semicentennial of the University of California.--W. K. FISHER, Hopkins Marine i?tation o! 8tan[orcl Uni- versity, Paci[ic Grove, California, February 8, 1919. SOME RECENT INVESTIOATIONS ON THE FO?D OF CERTAZN WILD BIRDS. By Walter E. Col- linge, D. Sc. F. L. S. The Journal of the Board of Agriculture, vol. xxv, September, 1918, pp. 668-691, 17 diagrams in text. Under the above title, Dr. Walter E. Col- linge, now the foremost economic ornitholo- gist of Great Britain, throws new light on the economic value of nine species of Brit- ish birds. The three main points made in the introduction are: Need for more knowl- edge on the food habits of birds, because of their direct relation to agriculture and food supply; the intricacy of the problem; the casual and unscientific manner in which the subject has been treated in the past. The
