a species" and began to throw off what must be considered as 'mutants,' taking de Vries's definition of the word. In other words, H. pinus is alone responsible and is the direct ancestor of both H. leucobronchialis and H. lawrencei; that these mutants' have up to the present time generally bred back into the parent stock, and that in so doing the instability of H. pinus has increased geometrically with the constant result of the increasing number of both kinds of 'mutants.'

LAWRENCE'S WARBLER, HELMINTHOPHILA
LAWRENCEI (HERRICK).

Previous to Mr. Brewster's description of Helminthophila leucobronchialis, Herrick described a bird which he named Helminthophila lawrencei. The affinities of this species are evidently with H. pinus, which it resembles in many ways, but from which it differs in being bright olive green above, and in having the ear coverts black and an area on the throat the same color.

At the time of this writing, between twenty and twenty-five" specimens are known, there

12

Cf. Bishop, Auk, Vol. XXII., No. 1, pp. 21-24, 1905. "In southern Connecticut there are three distinct forms of the blue-winged warbler (H. pinus) taking males alone into consideration-the ordinary form with rich gamboge-yellow lower parts, white wing-bars and bright olive-green back; a second form like the last but with gamboge-yellow wing-patch, resembling the goldenwinged (H. chrysoptera), which is much the rarest; and third, a form with pale yellow lower parts, much paler back, and with usually yellow wing-bars; and between the three occur all sorts if intermediates.

13

Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, p. 220, plate 15, 1874.

"Description of a New Species of Helminthophaga, by Harold Herrick, Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 1874, p. 220, pl. 15.

Capture of a Second Specimen of Helminthophaga lawrencei,' by Harold Herrick, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, Vol. II., No. 1, pp. 19-20, 1877. Records the capture of a second specimen which Mr. George N. Lawrence obtained from a dealer who told him that it was taken near Hoboken, N. J., in the spring of 1876. It was apparently a male and closely resembled the type.

'A Third Specimen of Lawrence's Warbler,' by Clark G. Voorhees, New York City, Auk, Vol. V., No. 4, p. 427, 1888. Records the capture at Rye, Westchester Co., N. Y., on August 31, 1888, of an adult male. The third known specimen.

'Helminthophila pinus, H. chrysoptera, H. leucobronchialis and H. lawrencei in Connecticut in the Spring of 1888,' by Louis B. Bishop, M.D., New Haven, Conn., Auk, Vol. VI., No. 2, pp. 192193, 1889. Records the capture of three specimens: a female at New Haven, May 21, a female at Stamford, May 23, and a male at the same place on May 25. This makes six known speci

mens.

Cf. op. cit., Auk, Vol. I, No. 1, pp. 305-310. Records by E. H. Eames of the capture of an adult male at Bridgeport, Conn., on May 16, 1889, and hearing this bird in full song. This is the seventh one known.

Notes from Connecticut,' by E. H. Eames, Bridgeport, Conn., Auk, Vol. X., No. 1, pp. 89-90, 1893. Mr. Eames records: Four Lawrence's warblers were within a radius of half a mile, three typical and one with the black obscured and the crown dull yellow-olive, brings the known number of this bird up to eleven.

This

'Notes on Helminthophila chrysoptera, pinus, leucobronchialis and lawrencei in Connecticut,' by John H. Sage, Portland, Conn., Auk, Vol. X., No. 2, pp. 208-209, 1893. Mr. Sage records a single example, a male taken on May 14, 1887. This is the twelfth known specimen.

'Notes Concerning Certain Birds of Long Island, N. Y.,' by William C. Braislin, M.D., Auk, Vol. XX., No. 1, pp. 50-53, 1903. "At Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island, May 8, 1902, a specimen of Lawrence's warbler was secured.

is a male, and seems perfectly typical." This appears to be the thirteenth bird of this kind recorded.

Cf. Thurber, True Democratic Banner (newspaper), Morristown, N. J., November 10, 17 and 24, 1887. Records a specimen.

that were like lawrencei, while, on the other hand, we have three records of the breeding of lawrencei. First, a female feeding young (it is to be noted in this case both parents were H. lawrencei), the male having been shot

an adult female taken at Highland Falls, N. Y. (cf. Brewster), that these three birds are hybrids between H. chrysoptera and H. pinus.

'The Coloration and Relationship of Brewster's Warbler,' by Gerald H. Thayer, Monadnock, N. H. Regards H. lawrencei as a hybrid between H. pinus and H. chrysoptera because of its color pattern and its rarity.

Cf. Bishop, Auk, Vol. XX., No. 1, pp. 21-24, 1905.

* I

May

16 Connecticut Notes,' by A. H. Verrill, New Haven, Conn., Auk, Vol. X., No. 3, p. 305, 1893. Mr. Verrill writes: "On May 6, 1893, procured an adult male Lawrence's warbler. 31, I noticed a Lawrence's warbler which I thought was breeding. On June 5 I again noticed the bird and shot it, and, after hunting some time, I finally flushed the female from her nest which, unfortunately, contained six young birds. I had a very good chance to examine her as she was constantly within six or eight feet from me. The nest was in all respects precisely like that of the blue-winged warbler. The young birds were well feathered out, and several of them showed traces of black on the throat."

["The really unfortunate part of the affair seems to have been not that the writer was disappointed in his hopes of a set of eggs, but that he failed to capture and rear the young and to secure the female-that he threw away a rare opportunity of casting much light on the status of this doubtful species.-Eds." Auk.]

'Connecticut Notes,' by Clark Greenwood Voorhees, New York City, Auk, Vol. XI., No. 3, pp. 259-260, 1894. "On the 12th of July (at Greenwich, Conn.), while looking for Helminthophila, I took an adult female, H. lawrencei. The bird is in every way like the female H. pinus, excepting that the thoat patch and stripe through the eye, which in the male H. lawrencei are black, are in this specimen dusky olive-green. The specimen is quite similar to the one taken by Mr. H. W. Flint in New Haven several years ago.

66

The young in first plumage which this bird was attending when shot was in every respect typical H. pinus. The male parent was not found, but I feel confident that it was H. pinus, as the

Moreover, the number of known specimens (plus twenty) is in itself an argument against the theory of hybridity difficult to overcome. As before stated, I believe that here again we have a mutation from H. pinus, which has not flourished to the extent that has H. leucobronchialis.

The next fifty years should go far toward telling the story in regard to both of these birds and it behooves every good field naturalist not to add more specimens of these birds to our collections, but to carefully observe them as they exist, alive; to make, if possible, a comparative census of them in given localities where they are of regular occurrence, and to do this annually for many years to come. Much light, too, may be thrown on their relationship by observing with greater care than has heretofore been given the parentage of all the different nests of Helminthophila, in any

young were well feathered and showed clearly well-defined black lores of the latter."

'Breeding of Lawrence Warbler in New York City,' by C. William Beebe, curator of ornithology, New York Zoological Park, Auk, Vol. XXI., No. 3, pp. 387-388, 1904. Mr. Beebe records the discovery of this bird breeding in the Bronx Park. The birds were observed from May 18 until June 16, 1904. The nest was discovered early in June. A male H. lawrencei, typical in appearance, was mated with a female which appeared to be a typical pinus. On June 13 both parents were ob served feeding the six young in the nest. The observers were within eight feet of the birds at this time. The nestlings upon examination were all in the typical nesting plumage of H. pinus, and showed no traces of the black markings of H. lawrencei. Very wisely these birds were not disturbed or collected and it will be interesting to watch future developments in this locality.

territory where leucobronchialis and lawrencei

occur.

Thus far I have dealt with North American birds, but there is an additional instance from Italy that demands attention in this connection. In the year 1900 Professor Henry Hillyer Giglioli described a supposed new species of owl which he named Athene chiaradia." This bird was discovered alive in the possession of a shoemaker at Caneva di Sacile. Its origin was traced back to a shepherd boy, who said that he took it from a nest in a crevice in a stone wall. There were four nestlings in this brood. After a day or two all but one of the young escaped. The locality Pizzocco is on the Prealps of Friuli.

This little owl was plainly related to a species, Athene noctua, common in this region, but it differed in having the tone and the pattern or style of the coloration,' so notable as to at once distinguish it from its ally; moreover, it had dark brown irides, which appeared black in the living bird. This in itself is remarkable, inasmuch as all the owls of the genus Athene have yellow irides.

By the year 1903 nine similar owls had been secured or observed, but all of them were found in nests, where some of their brothers or sisters were the yellow-eyed A. noctua. The parent birds of at least two of the nine known representatives of A. chiaradiæ are known to be true A. noctua.

These nine records were only secured after infinite painstaking effort, and I quote part of Professor Giglioli's conclusions in his article in the Ibis:

"And now for an attempt to explain the very strange and novel case. Of course, after what is now known, my first supposition that A. chiaradiœ might have been one of the last survivors of a species on the verge of extinction falls to the ground. But the opposite hypothesis, that we have in this singular small owl a case of neogenesis

-i. e., the exabrupto formation of a new type with sufficient differential characters to constitute, if maintained, a new species—can, I believe, be upheld.

"The term neogenesis was first used to explain this sudden origin of new forms from old-established species, if I am not mistaken, by my friend and colleague Professor Paolo Mantegazza, many years ago; it has been since used, more or less in the same sense, by the late Professor Cope and by others. I have no intention here of making any attempt to explain the causes which may bring forth such a result; they are necessarily various and usually occult. Suffice it to say that without a strong perturbation of the force of heredity such primary causes would give no result.

Now, if in the case of 4. chiaradia we have indeed an instance of true neogenesis-and the divergence of the parent birds from the normal type of A. noctua in different directions would go some way to prove that in them the force of heredity had been disturbed-we have before us an attempt at the formation of a new species, a case of singular and intense interest. I can not but consider it as an attempt, so far, for it is very possible that the couple of somewhat anomalous A. noctua now dead-which generated in all probability the four and perhaps eight A. chiaradia born at Pizzocco, and which possibly may also have been the parents of the couple from which the specimen at Fregona (at no great distance) was born-were alone endowed with the faculty of generating the black-eyed form, and they can do so no more. Again, should any of their blackeyed offspring have survived or should the occult primary causes leading to this singular case of neogenesis yet exist, and should in northeast Italy or elsewhere individuals of A. chiaradia be again produced and be able to breed freely, we can not guess whether or not the force of heredity, regaining its full sway, may fix, so to speak, the differential characters of specific value which suddenly emerged in the first specimens of A. chiaradiæ, or else, turning back to an easy atavism, alter the black-eyed form again to the original yellow-eyed A. noctua.

"In the first case a well-defined and remarkable species would be established; in the second my A. chiaradia would disappear. In either case I opine that the name that I have given to the black-eyed civetta should be maintained, for it is of obvious scientific interest to save this important case from oblivion. It will require several

generations, under the most favorable hypothesis, viz., that more A. chiaradiæ be produced, to enable us to decide whether or not a new species of Athene has been formed.

"As to any other hypotheses to explain the formation of A. chiaradiæ, I can but repeat that I reject both that based on hybridism, and that of a teratological or pathological cause. Hybrids always show traces of the characters of both parents, especially when, as would be the case in Athene, of sheer necessity the connubium can not but occur with a species of such very distinct genera as Nyctala, Scops and possibly Glaucidium; now A. chiaradia is purely and simply an Athene, and shows no trace whatever of the characters, either specific or generic, of any of the forms quoted above. As to a teratological or pathological origin, a mere glance at one of the blackeyed civette will show that they can not owe their origin to such a cause. Besides in such cases, as again in hybrids, the form produced varies, and in these black-eyed descendants of A. noctua the specimens thus far examined are perfectly alike. The only instance in which we find perfect similarity in pathological descendants is in cases of absolute albinism or melanism, or, to put it better, in monochroic varieties.

"I believe that neogenesis gives a logical explanation of the strange case of A. chiaradiæ. But neogenesis, which appears to be of frequent occurrence amongst plants, has rarely been noted in animals, and I believe never before amongst vertebrata in a wild state.

"Finally, as I have said before, neogenesis may or may not lead to the establishment of a new species."

The conclusions arrived at by this eminent Italian naturalist, which have just been quoted at length, appeal to me strongly and force me to endorse the view he has so ably presented.

In the light of the evidence set forth only one answer can be made to the question as to the part that the process defined by de Vries as 'mutation' is playing among higher animals to-day. Beyond doubt we have witnessed the birth of new species of birds during the past seventy years. Moreover, some of these new species have flourished so as to have become a salient part of the bird fauna in the region where they occur and where they were unknown to skilled ornithologists, who care

fully studied these regions in the early part of the last century.

WILLIAM E. D. SCOTT. WORTHINGTON SOCIETY FOR THE INVESTIGATION OF BIRD LIFE.

BOTANICAL NOTES.

NORTH AMERICAN FLORA.

SOME years ago a group of American botanists under the leadership of Professor Doctor N. L. Britton proposed to undertake the preparation of a comprehensive botanical work which was to bear the name 'Systematic Botany of North America.' One part, consisting of a few pages, was issued, since which nothing further has appeared. Botanists everywhere will be much pleased to know that in this interval work has gone forward, and that publication has been resumed. The title is now North American Flora' (instead of 'Systematic Botany of North America '), and its scope has been considerably extended, so as now to include the whole of North America from Greenland to Panama and the West Indian Islands.

As projected the work will include thirty volumes, which are to appear in from 120 to 150 parts.' The volumes have been assigned as follows: Vol. 1, Mycetozoa, Schizophyta, Diatomaceae; 2 to 10, Fungi; 11 to 13, Algae; 14 and 15, Bryophyta; 16, Pteridophyta and Gymnosperms; 17 to 19, Monocotyledons; 20 to 30, Dicotyledons.

The magnitude of the work may be estimated from the fact that the part before us includes eighty pages. It will be published by the New York Botanical Garden, through the aid of a fund bequeathed by Charles P. Daly. The first part issued (bearing date of May 22, 1905) is Part 1 of Volume 22, beginning with the order Rosales, under which are monographed the families Podostemonaceae (by G. V. Nash), Crassulaceae (by N. L. Britton and J. N. Rose), Penthoraceae and Parnassiaceae (by P. A. Rydberg). The descriptions are concise and the synonymy full. Type localities, distribution and illustrations are cited. Metric measurements are used exclusively. to families, genera and species are given.

Keys

The printed page is large (123 by 200 mm.), and the type and arrangement, while so compact as to leave no waste space, are pleasing to the eye.

NEW EDITION OF BRITTON'S MANUAL.

THE second edition of Britton's 'Manual of Flora of the Northern States and Canada,' which appeared some months ago includes descriptions of about one hundred additional species in an appendix, bringing the total number up to more than 4,600. Generic and specific synonyms have been added in many instances, thus adding greatly to the usefulness of the book for working botanists. The addition of a number of artificial keys will be especially helpful to beginners.

A NEW TROPICAL FLORA.

J. R. JOHNSTON (Gray Herbarium of Harvard University) has in preparation a work on theFlora of the Islands of Margarita and Coche' off the north coast of Venezuela, which must prove of much interest to American botanists. In noticing his descriptions of new species from these islands some time ago, the authorship of this work was erroneously given in these columns.

THE TEACHING OF BOTANY.

IN a most suggestive book entitled 'The Teaching of Biology in the Secondary School' (Longmans, Green & Co.) by Professors Lloyd and Bigelow, the former discusses many matters connected with the teaching of botany. Calling attention to the advances which botanical science has made in America during the last twenty-five years, and the changes which the teaching of the subject has experienced, he insists that the teachers should come to their work with a special mental equipment for their peculiar tasks,' and full of knowledge of the problems which they will be called upon to face in their work. In the course of the author's discussion one finds such chapter headings as 6 The Value of Science, and Particularly of Biology in Education'; 'Nature Study; The Value of Botany in Secondary Education'; 'Principles Determining the Content of a Botanical Course '; 'The Various Types of Botanical Courses';

It is impossible to summarize these chapters. They should be read from beginning to end by every young teacher, and by some who are no longer young. In passing it may be noted that the author is thoroughly and heartily a believer in nature study'; indeed, he is so much in earnest in its advocacy that he devotes a good many pages to criticism of many of the erroneous methods employed by some of its teachers. In discussing the types of botanical courses for high schools he says truly, "one of the big ideas which a student should get from the study of plant forms is that of evolution. should have an opportunity of looking into the kind of evidence which underlies this idea." The Huxley and Martin method,' he says, 'was ordinarily that of verification, while the development of individual initiative in thought was largely ignored.' Agassiz's method of bringing the student into 'direct contact with some form, such as a starfish, and leaving him to find out things for himself without aid of any kind' is characterized as 'heroic treatment, which can not be employed generally.'

He

Not to attempt too much is insisted upon, and also that the botany of the beginner must include something of each of the greater divisions of the science. In elucidating these suggestions the author discusses in detail the work which may be taken up in the high school. After quoting the course of study recommended by the Committee on a College Entrance Option in Botany, of the Society of Plant Morphology and Physiology, he details a course of his own, beginning with morphology and anatomy of the fruit and seed, and following this with ecology, field work, physiology, the root, the shoot, the leaf, the bud, Myxomycetes, Schizophyta, Thallophyta, Bryophyta, Pteridophyta, Phanerogams, geographical botany and physiographical plant ecology. In practise it will be found quite