Recent Literature

'i26 RecentLiterature LI-Auk July RECENT LITERATURE Cutright's 'Great Naturalists Explore South America.'--The scopeof this notice• is limited to considerationof the sectionsof this book which are specificallyof ornithologicalinterest. Theseinclude pages 156 to 215 inclusive,and, in conformity with the general plan of the remainderof the volume, they comprisecomposite accountsof a number of speciesof birds compiledfrom publishedrecords of obser- vations of various naturalists,who, over a period of years from 1799 to date, have made explorationsin South America. Among the principal authors from whose writings thesesummaries are gleanedmay be mentionedAlexander yon Humboldt, CharlesWaterton, CharlesDarwin, Richard Schomburgk,William Henry Edwards, Alfred RusselWallace, H. W. Bates,William Henry Hudson, Frank M. Chapman, L E. Miller, Robert CushmanMurphy, William Beebe,George K. Cherrie, Theo- dore Roosevelt,Alexander Wetmore, and others. Several of the more interesting and important birds are thus discussedat somelength, notably: the Golden Plover, the Arctic Tern, the Rhea, the Condor, the albatross, the Hoatzin, the toucan, the hummingbird, and the Cock-of-the-rock. There are included such topics as habits, food, range, flight, function of bill, speedof wingsand the like. Consider- able descriptiveand highly interestingmaterial has been quoted from various of theseauthors concerningthe spectaculardance of the Cock-of-the-rock;evidence concerningmethods used by the vulture in locatingfood throughsmell or otherwise; experimentsconducted relative to the speedof wingsof hummingbirds--"thoseglit- tering fragmentsof the rainbow;"the unusuallypotent emanations or odorsfrom the Hoatzin; the part played by the Condor in destroyingguano-producing birds, and the like. Particularlyinteresting are the sectionsdealing with bird migration betweenNorth and South America;light as a factor in migration; senseof direction or how birdsfind their way;and speedat whichbirds can travel. Spacelimitations here forbid enumerationof all the variousspecies of birdsconsidered, particularly in the migratorystudies, though these include such forms as heron,ibis, gallinule, Barn Swallow,Purple Martin, Pintail, Baldpate,Golden-eye, Blue-winged Teal, Hudsonianand EskimoCurlew, sandpiper, snipe, Northern Phalarope, Franklin's Gull, Bobolink,Redstart, Upland Ploverand the like. Of deepinterest is the generaldiscussion of present-daySouth America and its possibilitiesfrom the view- point of the naturalistand the explorer,and very helpful are the thumb-nail biographicalsketches presented of the greaternumber of the workersalready enu- meratedabove. Only a deeppersonal interest in the subjectcould have prompted the compilerto assemblethis unique array of material,for it coversnot onlyexten- sivegeographic range but alsoa longperiod of time. All studentsof SouthAmerican faunawill enjoyreading this exceedingly interesting and valuable compilation, and will be gratefulto Dr. Cutrightfor the veryconsiderable toil and painsspent in its preparation.-J.S. Archbold and Rand's 'New Guinea Expedition, 1936-1937'is the narrative of the secondjourney to New Guinea,undertaken by Archboldin the interestsof the AmericanMuseum of Natural History. As a result of the experiencegained on his first expedition,he had concludedthat the little-knowninterior might be exploredwith the help of an airplane,for hithertothe difficultiesof foot travel,the a Cutright, Paul Russell. The Great Naturalists explore South America. 8vo, 34ø pp., 4• pls., •94o; Macmillan Co., New York City. $•.•o. Vol.•7]1940 2 RecentLiterature 'i27 scarcityof native trails, and especiallythe lack of availablefood have constituted almostinsurmountable difficulties in the way of collectingand explorationat any distance from the coast. The Fly River of south-centralNew Guinea was selectedas the field of work for the new expedition, and a base station was establishedat Daru on the coast near the river's mouth. Rand was in charge of ornithologicalwork, G. H. H. Tate was to collectmammals, and L. J. Brasswas the botanistof the expedition. The plan was for Tate and Brass,with fifty-five carriersand police 'boys' to ascendthe river by a small steamerto a basecamp somesix hundred miles in from the mouth, where later Rand joined them by the plane. An advanceparty was to proceed up the river to the mountain barrier inland, and look out a route to thesehigh- lands and camp siteswhere provisionscould be dropped to the men by parachute from the airplane. Portable radio setskept the three parties in daily communi- cation with one another. For two months all went well, when a heavy storm on the coast wrecked the airplane at her moorings. This disaster necessitated calling in the field parties,who by constructinga flotilla of rafts managedto get back downstreamto a point where the river steamercould pick them up with their preciouscollections. That they all came through without mishap is proof of the skill and resourcefulness of the men. The bookx gives a straightforwardaccount of the journey, the country and its people, with many incidental notes on the birds seen or collected,of which pre- sumably a more particular account will later appear. Since then the leader of this expedition has led a third and contemplatesa fourth. The scientificresults of this work when publishedin full, should add much to our knowledgeof the animal and plant life of this great island. The book makesinteresting reading and givesone a clear idea of the difficulties in the explorer'spath who would penetrate to the mountainousinterior. One of the world'sleast-known areas only a few yearsago, New Guinea is rapidly be- comingfairly well collectedas to its avifaunaat least.--G.M. ALL•N. Dr. T. 8. Roberts's 'Annals of the [Minnesota] Museum of Natural History' is a mostinteresting account of the developmentof the Museumof the Universityof Minnesota from small beginningsto an institution of importance. The intro- ductory chapter briefly outlines the Museum'shistory which is further amplified by the inclusionof Dr. Roberts'sannual or biennial reports to the Presidentfrom 1918 to the present,as a method of giving a retrospectof its progressand growth. In 1872, the State legislaturepassed a bill creating the Geologicaland Natural History Surveyof Minnesotaand directedthat a museumshould be established at the University. ProfessorN.H. Winchell was made the first head of the survey. In 1877, when Dr. Roberts entered the university as a freshman, the exhibitions,largely geological,were containedin a single room of one of the universitybuildings. Twelve yearslater, the growingcollections were moved to larger quarters in the new ScienceHall, and their continued developmentsoon necessitatedvarious other moves,until at the presenttime a fine new building, made possiblelargely through the generosityof Mr. JamesF. Bell, is about ready as the permanenthome of the Museum. In this healthy growth one may read betweenthe lines that much of its progressand increasingusefulness has resulted from the devotion,good judgment and broadscientific interest of Dr. Roberts,who Archbold, Richard, and Rand, A.L. New Guinea Expedition / Fly River Area, •9S6-19S7 / 8vo, xviii d- 2o6 pp., folding map, illustr., 194o; Robert McBride & Co., New York City. $•.5o. RecentLiterature L[-Auk July for twenty yearshas been its Director. From the poorly organizedmiscellany that characterizedthe earlier type of natural-historymuseum, it has under his care advancedsteadily to becomean important and vital factor in both public and universityeducation. Always hampered by inadequatefunds, as museumsnor- mallyseem to be,progress has of necessitybeen slow, yet underwise management and insistenceupon quality rather than quantity, the well-chosenexhibits and ex. tensirestudy collections have provedof wide attractionand value. The collection of birds comprisesmany habitat groups and smaller portable casesfor schooluse, severalthousand study skins,including Dr. Roberts'sprivate collection donated by him, as well as other collectionsboth local and general, from various sources. Of interest among the exhibits is a group showinga pair of PassengerPigeons, with an authentic nest and egg, collectedmany yearsago. The repor0 includesseveral interesting portraits of those associatedwith the Museum'shistory, as well as many cuts illustrating its collectionsand activities, and it is thoroughly indexed. As a record of the Museum'sdevelopment, the scopeof its collections,its progressand increasingusefulness in the community, this volume of its 'Annals'provides an outstandingexample of what may be ac- complishedwith slender resourcesunder wise and devoted management.--G.M. 'Publicationsof the British Trust for Ornithology,Volume I,' comprisesa gather- ing of twenty-threereprints of articlespublished mainly in 'British Birds' and the 'Journal of Animal Ecology'from 1935-39. These deal with variousinquiries carried out under the recentlyestablished British Trust for Ornithology,adminis- tered from Oxford University. The subjects investigated include population studies of British heaths and moorlands; habits, color variation and censusesof the Short-earedOwl at Newcastleton;a comparativestudy of the breeding and other habits of the Common Swallow and the House Martin in the British Isles; the index of heron populationsand its variation over the period of years;an investi- gation on the statusand economicvalue of the Little Owl; Lapwing habitats;the migration of the Gannet in Great Britain; the destruction of buds of trees and

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