Page:Bird-lore Vol 08.djvu/175

 iSoob jBtetos anU Hetrietos The B. O. C. Migration Report for 1905. Bull. British Ornithologists' Club, Vol. XVII, Report on the Immigrations of Summer Residents in the Spring of 1905. Edited by W. R. Ogilvie-Grant. With- erby &Co., 326 High Holborn, London, 1906. 8vo, 127 pages, 32 maps. Students of migration will find much of interest in the first report of the Committee on Migration of the British Ornithologists' Club. This committee was appointed in order to obtain from lighthouses along the coasts and from inland observers in England and Wales, certain detailed information which was lacking in the inquiry conducted by the Migration Committee of the British Association some years ago. The present report deals chiefly with twenty-nine species of summer visitors, and an effort has been made to ascertain "when and where these birds entered the country, how they dis- persed themselves over it, when they reached their breeding-places, and finally, how some of them passed through and out of the coun- try." The account of each species is accom- panied by a map on which the data are plotted by symbols ingeniously devised to show the locality, date, direction of flight, and the different immigrations, which, in the case of the wheatear, are separated into six distinct movements. The number of ob- servers and the comparatively limited area covered, have enabled the committee to work out the migration of the species observed with greater detail than has ever been at- tempted in the United States, although, as in all work of the kind, the reports show many gaps to be filled in from future obser- vations. — T. S. P. Bird-Guide, Part I. Water Birds, Game Birds and Birds of Prey East of the Rockies. By Chester A. Reed, B. S. Charles K. Reed, Worcester, Mass., 1906. Oblong, 5>-2 x 3X inches. 254 pages. This book should prove a very useful and handy pocket guide to the birds of the ex- tensive region east of the Rocky Mountains. Its small size and flexible covers adapt it to this end no less admirably than its method of illustration and treatment. The first volume embraces all the orders from the Grebes to the Owls, inclusive, in the order of the American Ornithologists' Union's Check List. The introductory matter includes a figure showing the topography of a bird, and a synopsis of the orders and families, illus- trated with small line-cuts of bills and feet. With few exceptions, one page is devoted to each species. Sub-species are briefly mentioned under the head of the species. The illustrations are of uniform size, and oc- cupy the terminal third of each page. These are not intended as finished works of art, but as aids to identification. No attempt has been made to represent every tint and shade, but to give the general effect by the addition of one or two colors, when needed, to the black and white of the cut. The re- sult is, in most cases, very satisfactory; in fact, a large proportion of the figures will be as useful for purposes of identification as the most expensive plates. After the common and scientific names, the bird's length is given in inches. Below these is a short description of the bird and its distinguishing characteristics, its haunts, food and habits, all in one paragraph. In many cases, a few words are then devoted to "Notes." Under "Nest," the nest and eggs are briefly described, and frequently the breeding date is given. The final paragraph is devoted to "Range."— W. DeW. M. Baby Bird-Finder. Illustrated. Volume II. A Pocket Guide to the Common Water and Game Birds and Hawks and Owls of New England, with blank pages for notes. By Harriet E. Richards, As- sociate of American Ornithologists' Union. W. A. Butterfield, Publisher, 59 Brom- field St., Boston, Mass., 1906. 129 leaves. z% x^ inches. This is a companion volume to the " Baby Path-Finder to the Birds" ('the name of which has since been changed to 'Baby Bird- Finder'J, which comprised the song-birds. The treatment is identical with that of the (i39)