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 May, 9oo[ THE CONDOR 6 9 I ouhl be utterly opposed to a change if it were to result in admitting a single incompe- tent person to the "active" list. The require-' lne'ts should be severe and the honor only clmm to those who earn it; but there are a few who deserve it and should :ot, be deprived of the honor be- cause the  umter tlfty is arbitrarily adhered to. Ollt of our lnembership of 90 [ am sure we have two, possibly three, who aonld fill the re- quirerecur in euery way. You will see by this nundrop that I fix the standard high, nd I zouhl not exlct that all would be admitted at once, hut certainly one or t'o shouhl be. [ have never heard of any good reason why this state of aftaim shonhl xist, perbaps it. can beexp*ained. Certainly there ara n,any who wmdd like to have the condition changed or els satisfactorily explained. FRANK S. DAGOETT, Pasadena, Cal. le 61ub fiollection ot Birds. Denver, Colo., March 21, 1900. To The CooIr Ornilholoaical Club: A propos of the suggestion of President Fn,er- so' Ibat you ttregate a study collection of 510,} ski: s. and on the assuram.e that the col- lecti, is dell nnder way, 1 will contribute 100 fr, m Ibis st.tie, a represe tatire lot, and give tbt, eluh son;e elmice as far as practicable in tb:,ir selm'tion. I sbou'd like to I:e informed f wmr plats for the keepin and handli:;g of the c,let'ticm etc. Very truly, l,'a m M. Publications Reviewed. XV:x Sox(s. The Wilson Bul- letin, No. 30. By Lynds Jones, Ober- lin, O. Jan. t9. pp 56. Not since the publication of its valu- able bulletin cn the American Crow, under the direction of Mr. Frank Burns, has the Wilson Ornithological Chapter put fi:rth such a complete sumnmry of results in a given line of study as that embodied in the present t//elh. Frt. m a field of study possessing an ahnost limitless range of results, Mr. Jones has gleaned enough substantial facts, and has so arranged his observations, as to form a most creditable basis from which to proceed farther in the work of warb- ler songs. This has been no easy task, especially the separation-of the various warblers into the class whose song is nmst nearly like their own. Two song periods are first defined,- the diurnal and the seasonal, and these in turn are subdivided into the "call song" and "passion song," between which the author distinguishes as f01'- lows: "The call song is the product Of a deliberate purpose but the passion song wants no purpose. It bursts forth unbidden." Mr. Jones comments'upon the difficulties of properly describing bird songs, and with him the nmjority of our observers will agree. He says: "This may be minimized by combining notes from many describers, thus secur- ing a sort of Volapuk description, which will really be a generalized song possibly suggestive to xnost persons al- ready familiar with the song, but prac- tically useless to the novice." Following a lucid introduction comes the descriptions of the warbler songs, divided into five classes. These are: . Thin, wiry high-pitched songs; 2. Songs of striking character; 3. Songs resembling that of the Chipping Spar- row and Junco; 4. Species whose songs resemble that of the Yellow Warbler; 5. Whistling songs. Under each heading appears the proper species and subspecies, together with numerous examples of their songs. It is obvious, however, that the songs of a genus are sometimes widely divergent in its several species; for illustration, species of the Dendroica group are found in each of the five categories. The paper ends with "A Field Key to the Spring Males." Throughout the work the author has embraced the. ob- s-vations of all recent writers on the subject, and the paper forms the neat- est thing on warbler songs which has been given us.--C. B. T}F, U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey steamer Pathfi,der, which has been en- gaged in chart work about the Hawaiian Islands, has reached Seattle, whence she will leave shortly for Alaskan wa- ters. Mr. Richard C. McGregor is act- ing as official photographer to the ex- pedition. ..