Recently published Ornithological Works. 103 



Siberia, the extreme of which is reached as usual in Kamts- 

 chatka. The one exception to these rules of variation is 

 that P. orientalis of the southern islands of Japan, which 

 are almost tropical, is a greyer, whiter bird than P. orientalis 

 rosacea of the north island of Japan and the opposite 

 coast, which are almost arctic. There can be little doubt 

 that P. orientalis was originally isolated and differentiated 

 in Japan ; but it seems highly probable that the north island 

 was subsequently invaded by a large colony of P. major 

 before differentiation had proceeded far enough to make fertile 

 interbreeding impossible. If we regard P. rosacea as the 

 result of an ancient cross between the ancestors of P. major 

 and P. orientalis, all difficulties as to the peculiarities of its 

 coloration will disappear. 



X. — Notices of Recent Ornithological Publications. 



1. Beckham on the Ruby-crowned Kinglet. 



[Remarks upon the Plumage of Regidus calendula. By Charles Wick- 

 liffe Beckham. Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. viii. pp. 625-628.] 



The author reviews the conflicting statements of various 

 writers respecting the asserted presence of the brightly 

 coloured crown-patch in females and young autumnal birds. 

 He concludes that the female does not have this brightly 

 coloured crown, but that some, and perhaps a majority, of 

 the young autumnal males exhibit this ornament. 



2. Berlepsch on the Literature of the Trochilida. 



[Kritische Bemerkungen zm* Colibri-Literatur. Von Hans von Ber- 

 lepsch. Festschr. d. Ver. f. Natm-kunde zu Oassel, 1886.] 



In this unpretending essay, which must have cost the 

 author much time and trouble, will be found an excellent 

 account of the whole literature of the Trochilidae from their 

 first discovery (1535-47) to the present time. The full titles 

 of the numerous works referred to are carefully given in 

 footnotes. Graf v. Berlepsch considers that 450 well-definable 



