210 RecentLiterature. tApril[Auk mating of a regularly mated bird; and the anti-Jackdaw flights when the whole rookery with the exceptionof incubatingbirds regularly takes after a passingflock of vociferousDaws--which are by the way, another and smallermember of the Crow family. All in all 'The life of the Rook' is a most attractive and well written study of bird life while the chapteron Tree-top Photographywill prove of especialinterest and benefit to our bird photographers. Mr. Yeates saysthat he has neverphotographed a more interestingspecies, largely becausethere is "always somethingin the wind. There is activity enoughin a big ternery or gullery, but it seemsin someway a very stereotypedform of activity, and lacking the character and individuality of the Rook's ways." He also commentsupon one of the obstaclesto the proper interpre- tation of bird behavior, i.e. the prevalenceof popular ideas and the difficulty to realize to what an extent we are influencedby "preconceivednotions which arise from mere suppositionand vulgar rumor." Sixteen admirable plates,from photographsby the author, give one an excellent idea of the nest activities of the specieswhile a text cut showshow a tree blind may be made. The book is handsomelyprinted on extra heavy paper and is a credit to all concerned.--W. S. Thornsoh's 'Birds from the Hide. '--This book • of Mr. Ian M. Thomson will prove a delight to all who, like him, make bird photographya hobby and a diversion from a professionallife. With but a page of preface, he plungesdirectly into the stories and experiencesconnected with his photographyof British birds, some of them "extreme rarities" and others those "charming commoners,which all of us know." While our author statesthat he has put down merely what he has seenand that his experiencesmay seemabsurd to a "first rank" ornithologistwe think that he has recordednot a little informationwith real value in the study of bird behavior during the hoursspent in the cramped"hide" or tent, not to mentionthe beautiful pictures that his skill with the camerahas produced. Sixty-three of these are publishedin full page sepiaplates arrangedwith explanationsat the end of the book. All are studiesat the nest and not infrequentlycontain both parentsas well as the young. Eighteen species are considered, the Bittern, Water Rail, Harrier, Bearded Tit, Short-earedOwl, Crested Grebe, Skylark, Lapwing, Tufted Duck• Curlew, Red- throated Diver, Hooded Crow, Twite, Northern Phalarope,Skua, Jaeger, Long- tailed Titmouse, and Bullfinch. From pictures and text the reader is able to form a closeacquaintance with these birds of "Old England" and to comparethem with their representatives in America.--W. S. Mathews on the Procellariiformes.•--Mr. Gregory M. Mathews, as is well known, is engagedin monographingthe Procellariiformesand hasrecently published two papers of a preliminary character in the hope that they may arouseinterest in the subject and induce thosein possessionof additional information on any of the Petrels and Albatrossesto forward it to him, as well as their viewsupon his conclu- sionsas to the relationshipand "systematics" of this puzzling group. His first paper coversthe genusFregetta and its allies in which he showspretty

• Birds from the Hide [ Described and Photographed [ By [ Ian M. Thomson I With sixty- three Plates [ in Photogravure. A. & C. Black Ltd. 4, 5, & 6 Soho Square, London, W 1. 1933. Pp. i-xi + 1-108. Price 7 shillings, 6 pence. • On Fre•etta Bonaparte and Allied Genera. By Gregory M. Mathews. Novitates Zo51. XXXIX, pp. 34-54, October, 1933. A Check List of the Order Procellariiformes. By Gregory •I. Mathews. Novitates ZoSl. XXXIX, pp. 151-206, December, 1934. Vol.1935 LII] J RecentLiterature. 211 conclusivelythat the bird taken as a straggleroff St. Marks, Florida, and called Fregettatropica fropica (Gould), in the last edition of the A. O. U. 'Check-List,' shouldbe called Fregettornisgrailaria grailaria (Gould)--providing,of course,that one agrees to subdivide the genus Fregetta. We find one new name viz.: Fregetta guttara(p. 45), proposedtentatively on p. 45 and formally on the next page as Fre- gettornisguttara. F. leucogasterdeceptis which appearson p. 4 without authority, and apparentlynew at that point, wasreally describedin the previousyear in the Bulletin of the British Ornith. Club. Mr. Mathews' secondpaper is a completelist of the Procellariiformeswith original referencesand synonymy, distribution and breeding localities. There is also an elaborate key to which much thought has evidently been given, and a nominal list of speciesaccording to breedingareas. Several names heretofore apparently overlooked have been discovered by the author and listed in the synonymy--fortunately they do not affect ex/sting nomen- clature. Suchare: ProcellariagrSnlandica Gunn.; P. melanonyxNtisson and P. cinerea Gunn. (p. 160); P. harlic Voigt (p. 164); P. vulgarisWood and P. scotorumPartington (p. 178); P. propontidisand P. bysantinaAcerhi (p. 179), and P. arianfica Bon. (p. 189). We certainly owe a debt of gratitude to Mr. Mathews for the amount of time and labor which he has devoted to the unravelling of the complicated history and nomenclature of these pelagic birds and we trust that those in a position to offer helpful criticism will not hesitate to do so in order that his completedwork may be as nearly accurateas it is possibleto make it.--W. S. Hachisuka's 'Birds of the Philippines. '--The third volume of this work• is before us and maintains the high standard of typography, etc., of its predecessors. It carriesthe systematic treatment of the mbject from the birds of prey to the end of the groupsformerly associatedas the "Picariae," leaving the Passerincfamilies for the remaining volumes. The text follows the plan explained in previousreviews of this work (cf. Auk 1931 and 1933), presentingvery good descriptions,usually taken verbatim or nearly so from McGregor's •Manual of Philippine Birds,'although the author seemsto have forgotten to mention the fact. There are comparisonswith extra-Iimital forms and very shortnotes on habitsand distributionoften based on the samework. The book is lavishly illustrated, the present part containingforty-one plates, most of them in colorsand a numberof text figures. Someof the colorplates by a Japaneseartist, S. Koyabashi,are reproducedby an off-se•process and the effectis rather vivid; but most of them, apparently from paintingsby J. G. Keulemans,are delicate three- color half-tones printed on egg-shellpsper with beautiful results; the uncolored platesare from washdrawings printed insepia or chocolatebrown. A numberof new racesare describedil the presentvolume and a carefulexamina- tion of the pagesreveals the following:Otus rufescens burbidgei (p. 51), Sulu; O. r. malayensis(p. 52), Mt. Ophir, Malacca;Tanygnathus lucionensis moro (p. 87), Sulu; Halcyon winchellinigrorum (p. 142), Negros;H. pileata palawanensis(p. 142), Pala- wan;Hydr ocorax h. basilanica(p. 154),B•silan; C ollocalia whiteheadi tsubame (p. 176), Palawan;Eudynamys scolopacea paragueza (p. 213), Palawan;E. s. onikakko(p. 214), Mindoro;and Centropusmelanops banke• (p. 221), Samar. Five of the type speci-

• The Birds ] of the ] Phfiippine Islands I vith i•Otes on the Mammal Fauna I By I The Marquess Hachisuka I F.Z.S., F.R.G.S. I * • * * I Part III] Pages 1-256 I H. F. and G. Witherby I 326 High Holborn, London, W. C 1 ] November 26, 1934.