82 Recent Literature. 



through its late appearance, due to circumstances wholly beyond the con- 

 trol of its author. linsed on field-work cxtenilin;; from about June 1, 

 1867, to the middle of August, 1kG9, and n>stritt«l to a conipiiratively 

 liniittMl fiidd, not jireviously to any great extent explored, we have just 

 what all tiie circumstances of the civse would seem to wairant one in ex- 

 pecting, a thorough and exhaustive account of tlie oriiithnlogy of an in- 

 teresting belt of country. The observations were mainly limited to that 

 portion of the Great Basin include<l between the thirty-ninth and forty- 

 second parallels, ami extending from the Sierra Xevadas to the Wahsatch 

 Mountains. Fii-st is given an account of the route of the survey, with a 

 li.st of the cani])s. Tlieii follows a short account of the physical features 

 of the region, with a discussion of its " local avifauna}," especial reference 

 being had to the station of the different species represented. The term 

 "avifauna" is hence here used in a rather unusual sense, referring rather 

 to the habits of the species than to geographical area.s. Thus we have 

 (I) an ''Arboreal Avifauna," sulidivided into five categories of species, in 

 relation to whether tliry freciuent (1) the upper coniferous fore.«ts, (2) the 

 cedar or nut-))ine groves, (3) the aspen groves or copses, (-1) llie oaiion 

 shrubbery, and (5) the wooded river-valleys; (II) a "Terrestrial Avi- 

 fauna," consisting of (1) birds of the sagebrush, (2) birds of the mountain 

 meadows or peaks, and (.3) biixls of the lowland meiulows ; (III) a " ilund 

 Avifauna," embracing (1) species .strictly saxioolinc, (2) species sjixicoline 

 only in nesting habits, and (3) species nesting in earth-banks ; and, (IV) 

 an " Aquatic Avifauna," consisting of aquatic species. The.se divisions are 

 of course serviceable in indicating the station anrl habits of the different 

 species, but do not, of course, strictly characterize faunal areas, in their 

 usual geographical signification. " Descriptions of the localities where 

 collections or observations were made," numbering forty-tliree, then fol- 

 low, including lists of the sjiecies observed at each of tliese, where much 

 time was spent. " General remarks on the Avifauna of the ( !reat Basin," 

 with an analysis of the species in reference to their geographical ninge, 

 conclude the introiluctory portion of the Report, which forms, altogether, 

 nearly ninety pages of exceedingly interesting matter. The " Report 



Geologist in charge. Vol. IV, Part III, Ornithology. By Robert Ridgway. 

 4to. pp. 303-670. 1877. 



[.\s ail importnnt liililiological matter to he rpmcnilx'reil, it sliould be st.ated 

 that cmriMit hturatuir for a few years ha.s contained repeated antici|intory cita- 

 tions of such a work an being then "in press," — these citations sometimes in- 

 volving questions of precedence ; but the work, wliicli wius stereotypeil in 1S70, 

 was entirely remodelled, and never apjieared in it.s onginal form. Tlie steix'otype 

 plates were melted in 1S76, and no [lerfect co|iy of the original report exists 

 though a single mutilated set of |>roofs is, or was, in pos.session of Dr. Coues, 

 The matter was reset in 1876 or 1877, and the entire remodelling of the subject 

 renders previous citations of the original suppressed report freijuently inapplica- 

 ble. — E. C] 



