382 Recent Literature. [ZOE 
nia is called the Chi Kung T‘ong. It has a hall on Sacramento 
street in San Francisco. In addition to the principal assembly 
there are said to be several subsidiary ones known by different names, 
such as the Hip 7 T‘ong in San Francisco. To these lesser com- 
panies which are said to have for an object the protection of gam- 
bling - houses and the care and surveillance of those unfortunate 
women who constitute the greater part of the female emigrants from 
China, many offenses against the law are attributed. They are pop- 
ularly regarded as bands of outlaws, ready and willing to commit 
any crime which the policy of their leaders may dictate. In Chi- 
cago and St. Louis the society is called the Hung Shun Tong. 
Here, too, numerous crimes are attributed to the emissaries of the 
dreaded / Hing. The opportunity offered by the Chinese colony in 
this city for the intelligent study of their customs, beliefs and policy 
has been inexcusably neglected. There are among our Chinese 
residents many who speak excellent English, and many of our cit- 
izens have for various reasons acquired a fair knowledge of the Chi- 
nese language, and investigations of great interest may therefore be 
readily carried on.’’ As Mr. Culin says, one of their pharmacies 
alone would make a fair beginning for a folk-lore museum. 
The Azk for January has a colored frontispiece, by Mr. John L. 
Ridgway, of adult and young male of /cterus northropi Allen, a new 
species from Andros Island, Bahamas, named in honor of Dr. John 
I. Northrop. The eighth congress of the American Ornithologists’ 
Union was held in Washington November 18-20, 1890, and attended 
by 20 active and only 18 associate members from more than 300 of 
the latter class. Twenty-four scientific papers were presented. The © 
next meeting will be held at the American Museum of Natural His- 
tory in New York City, November 17,1891. The council presented 
the third supplement to the Union’s check-list of North American 
Birds, and will issue annually a supplement of additions, changes, 
etc., in order to bring the nomenclature to date. The following 
species and subspecies added during the year have been accepted 
by the Union: 
Totanus solitarius cinnamomeus Brewster. 
Olocoris alpestris adusta Dwight. 
Otocoris alpestris merrilli Dwight. 
Olocoris alpestris pallida Townsend. 
Coccothraustes vespertinus montanus (Ridgw.) Mearns. 
