We are informed at some length of the ad- vances that have been made in the methods used in such economic studies, and, as be- fore remarked, there seems but little doubt that the author and other present day work- ers in the same field, use much more exact methods than were formerly in vogue. Also there is much said for and against meth- ods used by different workers at the pres- ent day. These arguments would be much more impressive if it were not for the fact that the various different schools all seem to arrive at approximately the same re- sults! Thus it is fair to say, that, giving Mr. Bryant all possible credit for working out and making known all manner of inter- esting details in regard to the Meadowlark, almost any intelligent observer and collect- or of birds would, from his own general observations, have arrived at approximately the same result, namely, that the bird does some little harm, more good, is an attract- ive feature of the region, and should not be sentenced to destruction. We do not mean at all to decry such studies as the one under consideration; but, to draw a simile from another field, in getting average di- mensions of birds or mammals, it matters little whether one hundred or two hundred pertinent specimens be measured, the re- sults will be about the same. Similarly, while such exhaustive studies as this one of Mr. Bryant's may yield many interesting facts, it is safe to say that the final decision thus reached will not be markedly at vari- ance from what could be learned from a somewhat more cursory consideration of the subject. For immediate, practical use by a Commission seeking to apply the acquired information in the furtherance of legisla- tion, it would seem that substantially the same results could be secured with a lesser expenditure of resources and energy. This, of course, in no sense militates against the excellence and desirability of Mr. Bryant's work, as here presented.
Another possible suggestion is that in some respects the paper might have bene- fited by being more rigidly confined to the limits indicated in the title. There are vari- ous discussions of greater or less length, of questions not particularly germaine to the subject, containing some rather sweeping assertions which the author naturally can not here stop to discuss at any length, and which can not be considered as established facts. Thus, among other things, we are casually informed that birds from the northwestern coast region of California are appreciably darker in color than those from the southeastern part of the state (p. 478), and also that the number of young success- fully raised is less than with most other birds (p. 404), statements which do not carry conviction, and which might well have been omitted. A possible weak place in the weighing of evidence is afforded in the ten- dency shown towards taking "rancher's verdicts" at face value when such are favor- able to the birds, while antagonistic views are commented upon as though likely to have been based upon evidence that was "circumstantial" and "probably exagger- ated".
These criticisms are all of relatively un- important points, of course, which do not affect the general excellence of 'the paper. This is thoroughly deserving of all praise. A difficult and complicated problem is treated in a most competent and convincing manner. The tedious drudgery of stomach examination, and the patient care of field observation, are alike gone through with most accurately and painstakingly; while the resulting facts are weighed and as- signed their due relative importance in a manner beyond criticism.
It is greatly to be regretted that circum- stances did not permit the further pursu- ance of this work by the California State Fish and Game Commission, under the di- rection of Mr. Bryant, who has shown him- self so well fitted for this line of investiga- tion. In appearance, arrangement, etc., this paper leaves nothing to be desired, while the several excellent plates and text fig- ures are well chosen and instructive.—H.S.Swarth.
The Gannet | a Bird with a History | by | J.H. Gurney, F.Z.S. | Author of [two lines] | Illustrated with Numerous Photo- graphs, Maps and | Drawings, and One Col- oured Plate by Joseph Wolf | Witherby & Co. | 326 High Holborn, London | 1913 (our copy received November 25); frontispiece (colored distribution map), PI?. li—|—567, 136 illustrations, unnumbered and chiefly in text, two colored. Publisher's price, 27|6 net.
The present tendency in ornithological study and literature towards concentrated attention upon single species cannot fail to gratify a very large proportion of our gen- eral scientific readers. It is not for a mo- ment to be justly inferred that systematic, faunistic or morphologic lines of work are on the decline in importance, but that more nearly a balance of attention is being reached whereby the one-time threatened monopoly of the ornithological field by sys- tematists and their literature is averted.
Of the several monographic treatises upon single bird species, which have appeared,
