The Condor/Volume 1/Number 5/Book Reviews
Book Reviews.
Water Birds of the Pacific District.—By Lyman Belding, April, 1886, pp. 246. Manuscript type-written copy. (Received by the Cooper Ornithological Club March 4, 1897).
This volume was prepared by Mr. Belding for the Division of Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy of the United States Department of Agriculture, now the Biological Survey. The book was intended to serve as a companion volume to Land Birds of the Pacific District and had it been printed ten years ago, would have been of the greatest service to workers along our coast. Mr. Belding has generously presented his bound manuscript to the Cooper Club. In the preface written especially to the Club, Mr. Belding says:
"The notes on water birds which I received from the observers of the district are still incorporated in this volume, except a few of Mr. Emerson's, which came too late for insertion.
"The reversing of the Check List of the A. O. U. whereby the water birds came first in the list, instead of last, as formerly, found me unprepared to give the time to the water birds that I needed, and supposing that the water birds would soon be needed for publication, I made a hurried compilation, finished it in five or six weeks and this is the result."
Iktler Birds contains remarks on 156 species, compiled largely from published works of Baird, Ridgway, Cooper, Suckley, Heermann, C. H. Townsend, Evermann, Henshaw and Bendire. These are supplemented by original notes supplied by various observers of the Pacific District, including about the same men as furnished notes for the Land Birds. The habitat of each species is given under the trivial and scientific names, followed by notes on distribution, migration, feeding, nesting and general habits. The notes on most species are very copious, covering in many cases three and four pages. Each statement is preceded by the name of the author, thus following the plan which was found so satisfactory in the previous volume. The work is especially valuable to us on account of the exact records made for California species, of which notes Mr. Belding has supplied a large portion from his own observations. In spite of its being thirteen years old the book would furnish us with a good basis for our proposed State List.
Mr. Belding's own extensive and long continued observations on this coast have particularly fitted him for the preparation of this much-needed paper and we regret that it has not been made available for general use, as it is by far the best thing of its kind which has been done for the state. Some would perhaps object that the quotations are too lengthy, but I believe this to be one of its virtues, too often lacking in scientific works of a similar nature.
In a letter received from Dawson City under date of Aug. 2, Mr. Wilfred H. Osgood of the Biological Survey expedition writes of the good health and good work of the party to date. Among others the eggs of the Varied Thrush had been taken.