The locality is described as “flat and uninteresting.... The cultivated grounds are mainly comprised in a strip ranging from one to three miles in width, along the rivers and principal bayous, the remainder of the state being chiefly occupied by extensive forests and swamp lands.”
The author considers the list “of quite as much interest for what it does not include, as for what it does,” and comments on the apparent absence of the Catbird, Long-billed Marsh Wren, Black-and-white Creeper, Yellow-rumped, White-browed, Black-throated Green, Yellow Red-poll, and Kentucky Warblers, Large-billed Water Thrush, Redstart, Song Sparrow, and Common Pewee; to which he might with equal propriety have added the Prothonotary and Blue-winged Yellow Warblers and the Acadian Flycatcher. But we cannot believe with him that the non-occurrence, on the present occasion, of most of these species has any special significance, either as affecting their general distribution in, or usual migration through, the region of which the paper treats. The country about “Cinclaire” may have been unsuited to the habits of some of them, while the early date of Dr. Langdon’s departure, taken in connection with the exceptional lateness of the season, will sufficiently explain his failure to detect a number of the migratory ones which have been found near the mouth of the Mississippi by Mr. Henshaw, and which are well known to extend over the Mississippi valley at large only a few hundred miles further to the northward.
Dr. Langdon’s thoroughness and energy as a field collector are, however, so well known through the medium of his valuable papers on Ohio birds, that we may rest assured that his work at “Cinclaire” was well done, and the paper will be welcomed as an acceptable contribution to our knowledge of a region which has been nearly a terra incognita to ornithologists since the days of Audubon.—W. B.
Krider’s Field Notes.[[35]]—In an unpretending little pamphlet of some eighty odd pages Mr. Krider has “endeavored to describe and give the history of only those species of birds of the United States” which he has “collected and mounted,” and whose nests have come under his personal observation. Had this plan been carried out with only ordinary forethought and intelligence it could scarcely have failed to result in a valuable contribution to our knowledge of North American birds, for Mr. Krider’s long experience as a field collector must have afforded unusual opportunities for original investigation and observation. But a casual glance through the pages of his work is enough to show that these opportunities have been sadly neglected. Important records are given without dates and often with only a vague or inferential assignment of locality, while improbable statements and palpable errors are of frequent occurrence. In short, it is only too evident that Mr. Krider’s “Notes” are the offspring of a fading memory rather than the carefully kept data of a systematic worker. Moreover, the author writes from a standpoint at least twenty-five years behind the times, and consequently ignores all the various developments affecting classification and the relationship of allied species and races. From all this chaff it is of course possible to separate some sound grain, but most of the really important records were published long ago by Turnbull, Cassin, and other writers. Of the literary execution of the present work we can say nothing favorable. It is to be regretted that the author could not have recognized his unfitness in this respect, and, as on a former occasion, have secured the services of a competent editor.—W. B.
Langdon’s Zoölogical Miscellany.[[36]]—In the last issue of its well-known “Journal,” the Cincinnati Society of Natural History publishes the first of a series of articles entitled “Zoölogical Miscellany,” the aim and scope of which are thus tersely defined by the editor, Dr. F. W. Langdon:—
“Under the above caption it is proposed to bring together from time to time such facts as may be deemed worthy of record, respecting the structure, the life history, or the geographical distribution of the various species of animals constituting the Ohio Valley Fauna.”
The part before us includes sections on mammalogy, ornithology, herpetology, ichthyology, conchology, and entomology. In general terms, it may be said that all of these are well sustained, but in the present connection we have to do only with the one relating to birds. This contains a number of interesting notes, a large proportion of which are from the editor’s pen, although a few are signed by Mr. E. R. Quick, Mr. A. W. Butler, Dr. Howard E. Jones, and other more or less well-known names. Most of these notes relate chiefly to the local presence or distribution of certain birds within the Ohio Valley, but one or two possess a wider interest. Among the latter we notice an announcement by Dr. Langdon of the detection of the Oak-woods Sparrow (Peucæa æstivalis illinoensis, Ridgway) near Bardstown, Nelson County, Kentucky, “about one hundred miles southwest of Cincinnati.” The specimen was taken April 28, 1877, by Mr. C. W. Beckham, who referred it to Dr. Langdon for identification.
In addition to his numerous notes, the editor contributes a short but useful paper on the “Introduction of European Birds.” From this it appears that “during the years 1872, ’73 and ’74, about nine thousand dollars were expended in the purchase and importation of European birds, their average cost to import being about four dollars and fifty cents a pair. According to this estimate some four thousand individuals were introduced.” This great outlay was borne by the “Acclimation Society of Cincinnati” and we believe that most of the birds were turned out in the neighborhood of that city; but, according to Dr. Langdon, the experiment has practically proved a failure.
If the present instalment of “Zoölogical Miscellany” may be taken as a fair criterion of future issues, its favorable reception by naturalists is a matter of no uncertainty, and under Dr. Langdon’s able editing we look to see its popularity widely extended, even though its field be restricted to the Ohio Valley.—W. B.
Hoffman on the Birds of Nevada.[[37]]—In the present paper Dr. Hoffman has done good service to ornithology by tabulating the two hundred and fifty species and varieties of birds which he considers are entitled to a place in the avi-fauna of Nevada. The list is based partly upon the writer’s personal experience in the field during the season of 1871, but mainly upon the previously published reports of Mr. Ridgway, Mr. Henshaw and Dr. Yarrow, and Dr. J. G. Cooper. It hence partakes largely of the nature of a compilation, although the author’s original notes are by no means few or uninteresting.