Page:Condor17(4).djvu/27

July, 1915 EDITORIAL NOTES AND NEWS 169 13. "Farallon Island Bird Life"; in mo- tion picture; by Mr. Paul J. Fair, of Oak- land. 14. "Niche of the California Thrasher"; by Dr. Joseph Grinnell, of Berkeley. Discus- sion by Dr. T. S. Palmer, Mrs. Myers, and Messrs. Dawson and Grinnell. Thursday forenoon, May 20. 15. "The Genus Problem In Present Day Nomenclature"; an able discussion of a pressing problem; by Dr. Witruer Stone, of Philadelphia. 16. "The Work of the National Associa- tion of Audubon Societies"; by Mr. T. Gil- bert Pearson, of New York City. 17. "Two Characteristic California Wad- ers: the Black-necked Stilt and the Snowy Plover"; with lantern slides; by Mr. Tracy I. Storer, of Berkeley; remarks by Messrs. Murphy, Dawson and Joseph Mallliard. 18. "Food Habits of the Roadrunner"; by Dr. Harold C. Bryant, of Berkeley. 19. "History of the Bohemian Waxwing In British Columbia"; by Mr. Ernest M. An- derson; read by title. On Thursday afternoon a portion of the visiting delegates were conducted to the summit of Mr. Tamalpais. Others visited the California Museum of Vertebrate Zool- ogy at Berkeley.. On Friday an all-day ex- cursion on the U.S. Fish Commission ship, Albatross, was enjoyed by over eighty mem- bers and friends of the two ornithological societies. Snap shots of some of the parti- cipants are presented on the last two pages of this issue of THE CONDOR. On Saturday the convention disbanded. A number of the A. O. U. people went to the Yosemite Valley where some of them listened for the first time to the thrilling notes of the Canyon Wren and Water Ouzel. The above brief outline of happenings at the A. O. U. Congress can give but a faint idea of the atmosphere of the occa- sion. The setting at the Exposition was unique and doubtless will never be dupli- cated. We voice the hope, however, that it may become the custom to hold an A. O. U. Congress on the Pacific Coast regularly in the future, say every fifth year. PUBLICATIONS REVIEWED SPENCER [ FULLERTON BAIRD ! A BIOGRAPHY [ including selections from his correspond- ence I with Audubon, Agassiz, Dana, and others I By ?WILLIA? HEALEY DALL, A.M., D. Sc. I with nineteen illustrations ! [vig- nettel I Philadelphia & London I J' B.'?ip- pincott Company I 1915 ["published April ']? pp. xvi ? 462, 19 unnumbered plates. ($3.50.) The book of the above title is of more than ordinary interest to western bird stu- dents. Baird was intimately identified with the scientific operations of the Pacific Rail- road Surveys and with the publication of the results of those operations. The wealth of biographical detail collected by Dr. Dall concerning Professor Baird thus provides a great number of facts relative to the early history of ornithology in our we?stern states. The book contains many letters written by th? notable naturalists of the times, and many interesting sidelights are thereby thrown upon the relationships and charac- ters of these men. Baird himself was evi- dently the inspiring genius of his period. Practically every important achievement in the field of vertebrate zoology seemed to have been either initiated by him or promi- nently fostered by him. We owe a very great deal to Dr. Dall for his expenditure of labor in making available a full account of Baird's life and activities. This is the one biography of recent publica- tion that has appealed to the reviewer as most emphatically worth reading. The pres- ent-day naturalist, young and old alike, can- not fall to get inspiration as well as enjoy- ment out of lt.--J. GRINNELL. BIRDS OF NEW YORK, by ELON HOWARD EATON. Part 2. General Chapters; Land Birds. 1914 (our copy received March 20, 1915). Pp. 1-719, pls. 43-106. (For full title and review-notice of Part 1, see CON- VOR, XII, 1910, p. 207.) AS with Part 1, the prominent feature of this elaborate state publication lies in its illustrations. There are colored plates, rep- resenting nearly every species of bird indi- genous to New York, from the brush of L. A. Fuertes. These have been reproduced for the most part with marked success. The text treatment of species is neces- sarily not exhaustive. The descriptions are brief, and properly so where colored plates are so bounteously provided as in the pres- ent book. "Distribution" and "Haunts and habits" naturally relate almost wholly to the state concerned. Of general interest are the introductory chapters. These bear titles as follows: Bird ecology; the economic value of birds; the status of our bird laws; Special measures for increasing bird life; Bird refuges; Pri- vate preserves. Under these captions the various matters are impartially discussed, the conclusions according for the most part with the results of experience elsewhere. As means of increasing bird population, Eaton gives first importance to the erection of artificial nesting sites, this with due re- gard to the predilections of English Spar- rows and house cats. The planting of food- producing trees, and the provision of wat- ering places during the summer, are also recommended. With so comprehensive a work on its ornithology, New York State takes front rank as a commonwealth which recognizes the importance of supplying its schools and libraries with adequate treatises upon its natural history.--J. GRINNELL.