Recently published Ornithological II orkt. 55] 



53. Beebe on the Tail-feathers of the Motmots. 



Racket-formation in the Tail feathers of the Motmots. By C. William 

 Beebe, Zoologica, vol. i. No. 6. New ¥ork, L910.] 



.Mr. Beebe discusses the curious question as to how and 

 why the tail-feathers in the Motmots become spatulate. 

 Thai the bird at Least in some eases — assists in the process 

 is certain, for it has been "caught in the act" by such 

 trustworthy observers as Waterton, Salvin, and Bartlett. 

 Moreover, Mr. Beebe has a living bird that performs the 

 operation every year. But the object of this habit is still 

 quite unknown. Mr. Beebe is of opinion that a certain 

 definite portion of the central rectrices of the Motmot " lias 

 a decided degeneration/ 1 so that when the bird preens its 



feathers the barbs and barbules of tliis portion come easily 



away. This may be true, but why does the "degeneration " 

 take place'.-' As Mr. Beebe confesses, we cannot tell. But 

 his experiments on the tail-feathers of liis Motmot are wi II 

 worthy of studj . 



5 I . Beebe on Supernumerary Toes in Hints. 



[Three Ca ee of a Supernumerary Toe in the Broad-winged Hawk, 

 Buteo brachyptertiB. By 0. William Beebe. Zoologica, vol. i. No, 6, 



Mr. Beebe describes, and illustrates by photographic 

 plates, three instances of an extra toe being present in 

 specimens of Buteo brachypterus. It is certainly remarkable 

 that this abnormality should occur in three individuals 

 obtained in widely different Localities. 



55. Clark on the Birds of the North Pacific. 



[The Birds collected and observed during the Cruise of the U.S. 

 Fisheries Steamer ' Albatross ' in the North Pacific Ocean and in the 

 Bering, Okhotse, Japan, and Ea tern Seas from April to December 1906. 

 By Austin Hobart Clark. From the' Proceedings ' of the U.S. National 

 Museum, vol. xx.wiii. pp. l'.V7I i\'>\U). 



In 1900 Mr. Clark accompanied, as ornithologist, the 

 cruise of the U.S. Fisheries Steamer 'Albatross' in the 

 North Pacific. The route out was made by the Aleutian 



