808 SCIENTIFIC RECORD FOR 1885. 



Alpine regibn of southeastern New Guinea, and two of these exhibit 

 phases of plumage entailing generic distinction. They have been de- 

 scribed by Messrs. O. Finsch and A. B. Meyer, and beautifully illus- 

 trated in the " Zeitschrift fiir die gesammte Ornithologie." The new 

 species of previously" known genera are Phonygoma pnrjjureoviolacea, 

 Epimochus Meyeri, Paradisea Finschi, and Diphyllodes Hunsteiniy while 

 the remaining two {Astrarchia Stephanice and Paradisoryiis HudoJphi) 

 represent hitherto unknown genera. The Astrarchia is related to As- 

 tropia, but the two middle tail-feathers are very elongated and concave 

 above, while the lateral ones are short. The Paradisornis is allied to 

 Paradisea, but the two middle tail-feathers are very long, narrow, and 

 spatuliform, and the bill is higher and more compressed ; the long 

 flank plumes are especially remarkable lor the blue of diiferent shades 

 which distinguish them. (Z. g. 0., v. 2, pp. 369-391, pi. 15-22.) 



An insular genus of Birds. — The faunas of the archipelagos are in 

 teresting on account of the limited distribution of the resident species 

 and the fact that many of those species are peculiar to special islands 

 or groups of neighboring islands, but represented by kindred species in 

 other parts of the archipelago. Such is the case with a genus of war- 

 blers (Certhiola) almost characteristic of the West Indies, although sev 

 eral species are likewise found on the mainland of South and Middle 

 America or in Florida. The species of the genus have been subjected 

 to a revision lately by Mr. Eobert Eidgway, and nineteen species are ad- 

 mitted. Of these four species {Certhiola bahamensis, (J. mexicana, C. 

 luteola, and C. chloropyga) are found on the mainland, two (0. mexicana 

 and C. chloropyga) being confined to the continent, while of the others 

 one (C. bahamensis) is found in Southern Florida as well as the Baha- 

 mas, and another (C luteola) occurs in Tobago as well as Trinidad, Vene- 

 zuela, and Colombia. .The other species are exclusively confined to 

 special islands or groups of islands, each of the large or well separated 

 islands, as Cuba, Hayti, Porto Eico, Jamaica, Martinique, and Barba- 

 does, having its special species. {Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., v. viii, pp. 25-30.) 



Mammals. 



The ancestry of Mammals. — Much difference of opinion has prevailed 

 as to the ancestry of the mammals. Formerly it was generally sup- 

 posed that they were derived from such forms as the Dinosaurians or 

 that they were at least cognate with sudi reptiles. Later it was urged 

 by Professor Huxley (and the view has been accepted with considerable 

 favor) that the ancestry was to be sought among the amphibians. 

 Against both views, however, there were various objections. Professor 

 Cope has lately been disposed to consider that the nearest of kin were cer- 

 tain reptiles that lived during the Permian epoch. These reptiles have 

 been called the Theromorpha and are characterized in that the quadrate 



