74 JOURNAL OF MAINK ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Recent Literature. 



*Dabbene's Ornitologia Argentina. — This important and 

 voluminous work, according to its special title page, is calculated to 

 serve as a systematic and descriptive catalogue of the birds of the 

 Argentine Republic and adjacent parts of Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia 

 and Chili, together with the islands of adjacent parts of South 

 America and the Antarctic circle. The first two parts now pub- 

 lished consist of five hundred and thirteen large 8vo. pages and a 

 large folding geographical map. The brief introduction is followed 

 by a short sketch of ornithological exploration in Argentina. 



Part one, or pages ii to 167, is devoted to a consideration of 

 the anatomical characters used in classification of birds. These are 

 arranged as the Integument (which includes pterylography), Oste- 

 ology, Myology, the Syrinx, Carotids, and Digestive Canal. This 

 part closes with a section called Caracteres biologicas^ which deals 

 briefly with philosophical ornithology, and a bibliography of part 

 one. The bibliography is arranged under headings corresponding 

 to those of the previous part. Here we find the sources which have 

 contributed to the foregoing part. 



Part two (pages 169-406) deals with the geographical distribu- 

 tion of birds in Argentine territory. Here the subject is discussed 

 and the region is divided into five faunae, designated by numbers, as 

 "Primera zona, Segunda zona", etc. The entire avifauna is then 

 taken up, in tabular form, and all the numerous families, the gen- 

 era, and species are shown, each species being entered in the tables 

 (pages 184-405) under each and all of the faunae in which it occurs, 

 and by a legend of characters the nature of the occurrence of each 

 species in each fauna is shown, whether migrant, resident, straggler, 

 or what not. Those who advocate a reform in the recognition of 

 too many families among birds, as compared with other classes, will 

 here find ample ground for criticism. 



*Anales del Museo Nacional de Buenos Aires, Serie iii, Tomo xi: Buenos 

 Aires, 1910. 



