108 Recent Ornithological Publications. 



careful method as has been previously employed by Mr. Coues 

 in his " Monograph of the genus ^giothus." The first of Mr. 

 Coues's papers is a " Synopsis of the North American forms of 

 the Colymbidce and PodicipidxsJ' Of the former family five 

 species of the genus Cohjmbus are recognized as American, that 

 is, our three familiar Divers of these shores, and two representa- 

 tive species, Cohjmbus adamsi, allied to C. glacialis (as we must 

 persist in calling the Great Northern Diver, for we cannot allow 

 anything to displace a Linnean name), and C. pacifcus, an Ame- 

 rican form of C. arcticus. It is with great pleasure we see that 

 fine bird, Cohjmbus adamsi, so fully confirmed as a valid species ; 

 for some doubts* have been cast on its distinctness from C. gla- 

 cialis. Mr. Coues thinks there cannot be the slightest doubt 

 upon this point. "The diflference in the size, shape, and 

 colour of the bill alone would separate the two, were there no 

 other characters involved." The Smithsonian collection em- 

 braces a large series of Adams's Diver, obtained in the vicinity 

 of Great Slave Lake and Mackenzie's lliver by those energetic 

 collectors, R. Kennicott and B. R. Ross. The Grebes of America 

 are arranged by Mr. Coues under nine specific heads. First, we 

 have two species of the new genus jEchmophorus (founded on 

 Podiceps occidentalis, Lawrence), both from the Pacific coast of 

 America. Next follow five species of true Podiceps and its 

 various subdivisions. These are 



P. cristatus. 



P. cristatus, "[ 

 P. cooperi, corresponding 



P. cornutus, ? with the 

 P. caHforuicus, European 



P. cornutus. 

 P. auritus. 

 P. griseigeua. 



P. holbolH, 



Finally, we have a single Sylbeocyclus {S. dominicus of the An- 

 tilles and Mexico), which occurs on the southern confines of the 

 United States, and the Podilymbus podiceps, sole representative 

 of the distinct subfamily Podilymbince. 



Mr. Coues's second contribution to ornithology which we have 

 to notice is a '^ Revision of the Gulls of North America, based 

 upon specimens in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution." 

 This is an "abstract of a niore extended monograph of the 



• See P. Z. S. 1S59, p. 20(5. 



