(To be continued.)
Recent Literature.
Bailey’s Index to Forest and Stream.[[81]]—The newspaper thus indexed as to the bird-matter contained in its first twelve volumes has always given much space to ornithological articles, which have become of late years more valuable from a scientific standpoint than newspaper pieces generally are, being authenticated by the signatures of the writers instead of some silly pen-name, and being on the whole scarcely below or not below the grade of the bird notes that one finds in periodicals of professed technical character. No one who has had any experience in hunting for what he wants through the scantily indexed pages of a weekly issue can fail to appreciate the good office Mr. Bailey has rendered us all; and every one upon whom the bibliographical blight has descended knows what an immense amount of industry that curse entails. The author has our hearty sympathy in the latter, and our best thanks for the former. His work is more than a mere alphabetical list of names, followed by reference figures; for it includes, as the title says, a summary of each article indexed—often giving just the points wanted, thus rendering it unnecessary to look up the reference. The Index also includes authors’ names, and among these the authorship of many pseudonyms and initial-signatures are for the first time properly exposed. The summation of the bird-matters seems to be quite complete, and is certainly extensive, in the cases of some common game birds occupying several pages. We presume the work is not free from faults and errors of all sorts, because nothing of the kind can be; but we have found it more reliable than its mechanical execution would lead one to expect. Considering how great a favor Mr. Bailey has conferred upon the publishers, and how much good his Index will do the paper, by “setting it up” in the estimation of working ornithologists higher even than it was before, his work might have been better dressed.—E. C.
Chamberlain’s Catalogue of the Birds of New Brunswick.[[82]]—As many of our readers are doubtless aware, Mr. Montague Chamberlain has been engaged, for some time past, in investigating the bird fauna of New Brunswick, and an interesting result of his labors is now before us in the form of a catalogue of the birds of that Province. This paper, which forms by far the most important one in the publication of which it is a part, comprises some forty-three pages which are divided into two sections; “Section A” being restricted to “species which occur in St. John and King’s Counties”; while “Section B” embraces “species which have not been observed in Saint John or King’s Counties but which occur in other parts of the Province.”
The former division treats of a region to which the author has evidently paid special attention, and the text, being mainly based on his personal observations or investigations, includes many interesting and several important notes and records. From these we gather that the rather marked Alleghanian tinge which is known to pervade the bird-fauna of the entire coast region of Maine, as far as Eastport and Calais, extends still further eastward. Thus the Catbird, White-eyed Vireo, Towhee Bunting, Cowbird, Meadow Lark, Baltimore Oriole, Carolina Dove, Least Bittern, Florida Gallinule, and a few others scarcely less characteristic of the more southern fauna, have been found within the area treated by the present paper, but all are marked as rare, and the greater number as merely accidental visitors. Many of the more important records have already been published elsewhere.
The annotations in this section are often full and always interesting. The author writes clearly and simply and his style is characterized by a modest frankness that is very attractive. We fear, however, that some of his views respecting the distribution of races are hardly orthodox. Thus he thinks that “two races of Loon spend the summer in New Brunswick, and breed here. They have plumage of similar colors and markings, but one is smaller than the other, being some six inches less in length. The larger bird is common on the lakes and rivers in all sections of the Province, seldom seeking the salt water until the rivers freeze over, while the smaller is rarely found away from the sea shore”; and again that a light form of the Ruffed Grouse “resembling the descriptions given of umbelloides” occurs with typical umbellus and that it is “not improbable that both the Brown and Gray varieties are represented here, with numerous hybrids”; a condition of affairs which, if true, is certainly deplorable.
“Section B” is almost wholly compiled, the authorities mainly drawn on being Boardman, Herrick, and Dr. A. Leith Adams. Several of the records left by the latter writer are, in the light of our present knowledge, of very doubtful value.
Mr. Chamberlain’s work, so far as it has gone, has evidently been done carefully and well, a fact which makes it the more to be regretted that the publication of his report could not have been longer delayed, for in many respects it lacks the completeness that is desirable in a paper of its kind. Any adequate exploration of a region so extensive as that embraced within the limits of New Brunswick cannot be accomplished in one or two seasons only. It is rather the task of a lifetime. But we must bear in mind that the present “Catalogue” is offered simply as a “starting point,” to be “supplemented by additions and revisions as opportunity for further investigation occurs”; and considered from this standpoint it is in every way a highly creditable production. That its author is qualified to carry out an undertaking which he has so satisfactorily begun can be a matter admitting of no doubt, and we shall look for many interesting developments in the field which he has chosen.—W. B.
Krukenberg on the Coloring Matter of Feathers. Second Part.[[83]]—Turacoverdin, a green pigment which occurs in the green feathers of the Musophagidæ is first considered. This pigment is soluble in alkalies, such as soda and the like, but is insoluble in acids, chloroform, ether and the alcohols. Concentrated sulphuric acid added to the pigment in solution turns it violet red. Turacoverdin in solution emits a weak red fluorescent light, and when examined by the spectroscope shows an absorption band near D. It contains a considerable quantity of iron, but little copper or manganese, and probably, like Turacin, lacks sulphur and nitrogen. A point of considerable interest is its identity with a green pigment procured by Church by boiling a solution of Turacin for a long time.
Zoörubin, a red-brown pigment occurring in Cicinnurus regius is next described. In solubility it much resembles the preceding, but has no absorption band, though all of the spectrum beyond D is absorbed. When treated with a very small quantity of copper-sulphate, Zoörubin instantly becomes cherry-red, a characteristic reaction. This pigment occurs in the brown female paradise bird though not in other brown birds, as Strix flammea and Alcedo ispida. As regards the colors of Eclectus polychlorus, where green, blue, red, yellow and brown may all be found, the author has brought out some very interesting points. The blue and green are mechanical, or rather the blue is mechanical and the green is the result of a yellow pigment overlying a brown one. The true pigments of the feathers are brown, yellow, and red. If the feathers be blackened on their under surfaces with lampblack or sepia, they become blue. If the yellow feathers are treated in a similar way, they become green. The yellow pigment is Zoöfulvin, the red probably Zoönerythrin.