182 Recent Literature. 



The female in first plumage I have not seen, but two young females 

 before me, which have nearly perfected their autumnal plumage, have 

 each a well-defined mustache, — not black, however, as in the male of any 

 age, but of a dark plumbeous color. Upon raising the feathers, many of 

 them arc found to be nearly black at their bases, and a few entirely black 

 ones appear. I have seen two other females, both young birds in imper- 

 fect autumnal dress, which had similar dark mustaches. It seems not 

 unlikely that many females of this species may in first plumage be marked 

 nearly like the males. 



ISUcent 21 iterating 



Elliot's Review of the Ibidi>\e, or Ibises. — During the past year 

 three important papers have appeared relating to different groups of the He- 

 rodiones. In June, 1877, Mr. D. G. Elliot published a paper on the Ibises,* 

 Dr. Ant. Reichenow has reviewed the whole group of Herodiones, and 

 later Mr. Ridgway has .written about some of the American species. -Mr. 

 Elliot treats the Ibises and Spoonbills as subfamilies of one family, for 

 which he adopts the name Ibididce. After a short resume ol' the literature 

 of the subject he gives a key to the nineteen genera (three being new), 

 among which he distributes his twenty-five species. Then follows a sys- 

 tematic review of the species, with their principal synonymy, and various 

 critical and descriptive remarks, with generally a Bhorf account of their 

 habits and geographical distribution. The genus Ibis La very properly re- 

 stricted to embrace only the Sacred fhifl of the Egyptians and a U-\v other 

 allied species. Falcinellus is employed as the generic designation for 

 the Glossy this and its allies. Of this group four Bpecies are recognized, 

 three of which (F. guarauna, F. ridgwayi, and F. thalassinus) are exclu- 

 sively American, the other (F. i<jn>n.<) being " cosmopolitan," and repre- 

 sented with us by the " Ibis ordii" of Bonaparte and most American 

 writers. The generic name Ibis being untenable for any of the New 

 World Bpecies, Eudocimus (Wagler, 1832) is taken as the only generic 

 name applicable to our White and Scarlet Ibises. — J. A. A. 



Ridgway's Studies of the American Berodiones. — The first t of 

 the series of papers here begun deals mainly with the Ardeida and Cico- 



* Review of the Ibidinse, or Subfamily of'the Ibises. By D. <;. Elliot, F. R. 

 S. iv, !•'. L 8., etc. etc Proc. ZooL Soc. London, 1877, pp. 477-510, PL LI. 



+ Studies of the American Berodiones. Part 1. Synopsis of the American 

 genera of Ardeida and Ciconiidce; including descriptions of three new genera, 

 and a monograph of the American species of the genus Ardea. By Robert 

 Ridgway. Hull. I'. S. GeoL and Geogr. Survey, VoL IV. pp. 219-251, February 



5, is; 



