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July, x9o 7 PUBLICATIONS REVIEWED In December last, appeared the concluding number of THE WARBLER, published and edited by MR. JOHN LEWIS CHILDS at Floral Park, New York. It had been hoped that increasing support would have warranted the continuance of this magazine indefinitely. But unfortunately, as announced by its Editor in the last issue, subscriptions had amounted to less than ten per cent of the cost of main- taining the magazine. This is, of course, de- plorable. But the same has been true of most other bird periodicals, and the few that persist owe their support to other means than that afforded by subscriptions alone. The features of THE WARBLER, as originally intended, were the publication of strictly original matter pertaining to the rarer North American birds, and, to accompany these, colored plates of previously unfigured nests and eggs. These features are commendably main- tained thruout the two complete volumes of' the magazine which appeared. In spite of its having lived so brief a time, the two volumes are sure to become in greater and greater de- mand wherever ornithological libraries are forming. No student can overlook the records and descriptions therein contained. TrxE WARBLER ("Second Series," tho the first series seems to have been so unimportant as to have attracted little attention) ran thru x9o5 and x9o6 , a volume to each year, and four numbers to each volume. Its appearance was somewhat irregular, tho it generally came out in March, June, September and December of each year. Volume I contained x28 pages, 8 colored plates, and 32 half-tone illustrations. Volume II contained xo8 pages, 4 colored plates and x 3 half-tone illustrations. It is the purpose of the present reviewer to call attention only to the strictly Western material which found record in this periodical. In Number x of Volume I appears a colored plate of three eggs of the Olive Warbler (Dendroica olivacea) collected by O. W. How- ard in the Huachuca Mountains of Arizona. The plate is accompanied by brief notes (un- signed, so probably editorial). In the same issue is a brief account by H. R. Taylor of the Alameda Song Sparrow (dlelospiza clnerea pusillula). In Number 2 of Volume I, John Lewis Childs contributes some "California Notes," which deal with the Golden Eagle (nesting in San Diego County, California), Western Gull, Anna Hummingbird, Califor- nia Partridge, Snow Goose, and English Spar- row. In Number 3 of Volume I, P. B. Peabody writes of "The Tolmie Warbler in Wyoming," illustrated with a halftone of a nest and eggs. In the same issue appears a colored plate of three eggs of the Rufous-crowned Sparrow (?limophila ruficeps), accompanied by a brief editorial note. This is the set taken by Bar- low and discribed by him in Tr? CONDOR, Volume IV, pages XO7-HL In Number 4 of Volume I of T?tE WARBLER is a colored illus- tration of an egg of the Clarke Nutcracker, taken by H. C. Johnson in Utah. Short (edit- orial) notes are appended. In the same num- ber P. B. Peabody describes the habits of "The Long-tailed Chickadee" as observed by him in Wyoming. Two half-tones show a nesting site and nest. There also appears in this issue a halt-tone photograph of a nest and eggs of the Western Gull, taken by O. W. Howard on Santa Barbara Island. Number r of Volume II opens with a col- ored plate in part showing four eggs of the Dusky Warbler ( Helminthophila celata sordida) on San Clemente Island. An account of the taking of these is given by the collector, O. W. Howard. An interesting fact discovered is that this race nests high from the ground in bushes or small trees and not, as with its rela- tives, on the ground. In the same issue P. B. Peabody describes at length the nesting of "The Desert Horned Lark" in Wyoming, with three half-tone illustrations; and Harry H. Dunn tells about"The California Bush-Tit." In Number 2 of Volume II the frontispiece col- ored plate illustrates two sets of four eggs each. One is of the "Santa Barbara Flycatcher (Em- pidona?c insulicola)" taken by O. W. Howard on Santa Catalina Island, with a brief explana- tory note. It will, however, be remembered that we hold that there is no form on the Islands distinct from the ordinary Western Flycatcher of the mainland. The other illus- tration is of the eggs of the Gray Flycatcher taken in the San Bernardino Mountains of southern California. Accompanying this is an extended article by Joseph Grinnell on the "Nesting of the Gray Flycatcher in Califor- nia," accompanied by a half-tone picture of a nest. In the plate caption the scientific name of this species is given as "Empidonaa:griseus canescens," an impossible combination, intro- duced thrn error, as later acknowledged by the Editor. The correct name, as we have lately been informed, is not even E. canescerts, but Empidonax griseus Brewster. In the same number P. B. Peabody discusses at length the "Pinyon Jay" from his experiences with the bird in Wyoming; 3 half-tones lend vividness to the account. In Number 3 of Volume II, the eggs of the Salt Marsh Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas sinuosa) are illustrated in color, from a set taken by H. R. Taylor. P. B. Peabody tells about the "Rocky Mountain Nuthatch" in Wyoming, presenting four half- tones of birds and nesting sites. And Harry H. Dunn gives a brief account of "The Gnat- catchers of Southern California." The only plate in Number 4 of Volume II shows in color the nest and eggs of the Blue-throated Hum-