Recently published (Jrnitliologicul Works. 327 



ph(Sopygus, T. phaojjygoides, T. crotopezus, T. tristis, T. leuc- 

 auchen, T. albicoUis, T. leucomelas, T. iiymnophthalmus , 

 T. murinus, T. comorensis, T. plehe'ms, T. ohsoletus, T.jumi- 

 gatus, T. hauxivelli, T. albiventer, T. grayi, T. casius. 



58. SteJ7ieger on the Birds of the Kuril Islands. 



[The Birds of the Kuril Islands. By Leonard Stejneger. Proc. U.S- 

 Nat. Mus. xxi. pp. 269-206, 1898.] 



It is probable that very few persons^ even amoug natural- 

 ists, realize the fact that this storm-beaten and dangerous 

 archipelago is 630 miles long (equal, roughly, to the length 

 of the British Islands including the Shetlands), and still 

 fewer have any idea that at some undefined portion of the 

 chain is the meeting-place of two distinct faunas, namely the 

 one coming from Kamchatka in the nort'u, and the other from 

 Yezo in the south. Wosnessenski in 1845-46 wintered on 

 Urup and made collections in several of the larger islands ; 

 but his specimens, sent to the St. Petersburg Museum, have 

 never been Avorked up systematically. Since his time, 

 Capt. H. J. Snow is the only person who has made important 

 collections, and of these some account has been given in 

 Blakiston and Fryer's ' Birds of Japan,' but unfortunately 

 few specimens have any locality less vague than '• Kuril 

 Islands " attached to them. Dr. Stejneger was not able to 

 make a prolonged stay in this chain, but he visited some of 

 the Middle Islands in 1896, and his account of the avifauna 

 not only includes all that is known up to date, but also 

 rounds off appropriately his experiences^of the Commander 

 Islands and Bering Sea, further northward. The species of 

 birds now recorded are 146 in number, and Dr. Stejneger's 

 list forms a useful commentary on the remarks on birds in 

 Capt. Snow's ' Notes on the Kuril Islands,' published by 

 Murray for the Royal Geographical Society, in 1897, with 

 some excellent maps. This little-known work is essential to 

 a student of the district ; and we observe with satisfaction 

 that the orthography " Kuril " has the sanction of both 

 English and American authorities. There is hope that 

 Bering may, in time, eject " Behring," even in newspapers. 



