676 BULLETIN UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL .SURVEY. [VoLY. 



1652. Martin, "\V. C. L. A | General History | of | Iliimuiiug-Biril.s, | or the | Tro- 

 chilida? : | with especial reference to the | collection of J. Gould, F. R. S.^ &c. 

 I noAY exhibiting in the | Gardens of the Zoological Society of London. | By | 

 W. C. L. Martin, | late one of the Scientific Officers of the Zoological | Society 

 of London. | — | London : | H. G. Bohn, York Street, Covent Garden. | 1852. 

 1 vol. sni. Kinio. pp. i-vii, 1 1., p]). 1-232, frontisp. and pll. col'd. 1-3, 3*, 4-14. 



I also liiul this work lited .le "121110., 1853": liut tUis luay not indicate a different edition. 

 The work seems to liave lieeii designed as a sort of eonTiuiiatiou of, or sujiplement to, the Hum- 

 ming-birds of Jardlue's Naturalist's Library .■ and if was in fact afterward made one of the 

 Tols. of that notable collection. T have handled the vol. both as a separate work and as one 

 of ^e Nat. Libr. ,- the title and collation are identical, excepting that the d-ate is carefull\ 

 erased in the Nat. Libr. binding. When found in this connection there is absolutely nothing 

 TO show what vol. of the series it is intended for. — Omitting the unnumbered vol. called 

 General History of Man,' it would make Vol. XLI of the Nat. Libr.,- counting the Gen. 

 Hist, of Man as one, it would be Vol. XLII : there being 40 vols, of the series without either 

 of these two.— But the copy examined is .stamped on the back Hummingbirds, Vol. Ill"; 

 going by this token, the work makes Vol. VII bis of the Bird Series, the two regular Hum- 

 ming-bird volumes being respectively Vols. VI and VII. 



It is a modest treatise of much merit, as the .inthors name would lead us to anticipate. 

 The arrangement of the genera is according to Bonaparte. Some 175 spp. altogethei- are 

 treated, and, ou the 15 (not 14) colored plates and the frontispiece are figured the following : 

 Frontisp., Docimastes ensiferus. PI. 1, Petasophora iolata ; 2, Heliothrix auritiis; 3, Cam- 

 pylopterus obscurus; Z-' , Topaza pyra ; 4, Tiovrciera torquata : o, Agla-actis rvprcipcnnis ; 6, 

 Helianthea eos : 7, Chrysuronia oenonc : i^, Heliangelus mavors : 9, Oreotrochilvs chiwiborazo : 

 10. Bamphomicronheteropogon : 11, Oxypogon limleni : 12, Spathura iinderivoodii ; 13, £riopv.i 

 cvp7-eiventris .- 14. Govldia conversi. 



1853. BoURClEi:, J. Nouvelle cspece du gem-e MetalUira []iriuiolimi.s], Gonld. <^ Brr. 

 ot M(uj. (U Zool, V, 18.53, pp. 295. 296. 



185'.'. Gould. J. Descriptions of Five New Species of Hunmnug Birds. < P. Z. S., 

 xxi. 18.53, pp. 61, 62. 



Helianthea iris, H. aurora. Heliangelus rioUi, Trockilus { ?) cyanocollis. p. 61; T. { — ?) 



Jloriceps, p. 62. 



1853. Gould. J. Observations on the Nests of Hnniming Birds [Trochilida']. <^ P. 

 Z. S., xxi, 1853, p. 100. 



1853. Gould, J. Descriptions of Two New Species of Humming Birds from Peru. 

 <P. Z. ,<J., xxi, 1853, p. 109. 

 Spathura cissiitra, Calothorax micrurus. 



1853. Gould, J. Ou some new species of Trochilidie. <^ Ann. Mag. Xat. Hisi., 2d ser., 

 xi. 1853. pp. 466, 467. 

 From P. Z. S.. Mar. 2.5. 1851. pp. 115, 116, q. v. 



1853. MfxTEK, W. Abwesenheit der Furcula am Skelet eiues Trochilus. <^ Zcit-ichr. 



gesammt. Xaturif'ws., i, 1853, p. 18. 

 Xot seen — title from Giebel. 

 18.53. Verheaux, J. , and Verreaux, E. Note du genre Lophornis Ch. Bp. — Lophomis 

 Verrenuxii Bonrc. <^ i?er. et Mag. de Zool.,x, 1853, p. 193, pi. 6. 



1854. Bonaparte, C. L. Talleau [sic] des Oiseaux-Mouches. <^ lier. et May. de Zool., 



vi, Mai, 1854, pp. 248-257. (Aussiseparement, Pari.s, Rayon, 1854 : 8vo, pp. 12.) 

 Conspectus TrochUorum : 80 genres, 322especes: "le squelette de mes etudes sur les Oi- 

 se.iux-Moucbes." Les nonis seulement, sans descriptions. 



The yeai' 1854 was a sad one for the Hummers. Two deadly assaults were made upon the 

 literature of the family, by Bonaparte in France, and by Reiclienbach in Germany; with the 

 result of making confusion worse confounded in the generic nomenclalure. Both these au- 

 thors opened the flood-gates, and fairly inundated the sub.ject with numberless new names, 

 few of which were needed, none of which were characterized with regard for proprieties, and 

 some of which duplicated each other. TThat with these .authors' extravagancies, and the 

 still further loosening of the reins of .judicious moderation in the hands of Mulsant in 1866 

 •and subsequently, the Hummers were probably as badly abused as any family of birds what- 

 ever. They have been fairly overwhelmed with a mass of synonymy. There are to-day 

 scarcely fewer genera of Hummers than species ; and, if we count the different application 



