ar | Recent Literature. 237 
A Bibliography of British Ornithology.'— Three more parts of this 
work which was first noticed in ‘The Auk’ 1916, p. 448, have since appeared 
carrying it well through the letter ‘R’. Among the most interesting of 
the biographical sketches are those of Latham, MacGillivray, and Pennant. 
The first we learn was a strict disciple of the Linnzan School, and strongly 
prejudiced against the growing innovations upon his master’s nomenclature, 
which were even then being made on the Continent. Latham’s plan to 
describe all known birds, while thoroughly commendable, was too great 
for his talents, especially when we consider the vast number of new birds 
quite unknown to Linneus which were at this time pouring into the mu- 
seums of Europe. Of MacGillivray, whose collaboration with Audubon 
brings him into close connection with American ornithology, it is sad to 
learn that no detailed biography has ever been written and that the mate- 
rials for such do not now exist. Pennant a descendant of a distinguished 
Welsh family united more than an average ability as a naturalist with the 
reputation of an elegant scholar and refined gentleman. 
In glancing over the long list of the contributors to British ornithology 
one is struck by the very small number of titles from the pens of many of 
the foremost bird students that England has produced — such as Godman, 
G. R. Gray, Gould, ete. These men labored almost entirely in wider fields, 
leaving the British avifauna to others who preferred to concentrate their 
attention on the home birds, and who in consequence are for the most part 
but little known to the world at large. 
The excellent typography of the first part of the work is fully main- 
tained and when finally bound up it will form a handsome volume as well 
as a storehouse of information.— W. 8. 
Cory on New South American Birds.?— In a recent publication Mr. 
Cory describes three new subspecies of South American birds from the 
collections of the Field Museum of Natural History, as follows: Nyctipolus 
hirundinaceus ceare (p. 4) Quixada, Ceara, Brazil; Scardafella squammata 
ceare (p. 6), same locality and Leptotila ochroptera approximans (p. 7) Serra 
Baturite, Ceara, Brazil. There is also discussion on the races of Nyctipolus 
hirundinaceus and.on the southern forms of Speotyto cunicularia and some 
further remarks on the author’s Piaya cayana venezuelensis— W. 8. 
Oberholser on the Birds of Bawean Island.*— In this paper Mr. 
Oberholser describes a collection made by Dr. W. L. Abbott on Bawean 
Island, in the Java Sea about 175 miles south of Borneo. The collection 
1A Bibliography of British Ornithology from the Earliest times to the End of 1912. By 
W. H. Mullins and H. Kirke Swann. MacMillan and Co. 1916. S8vo. Pts. II-IV, 
each 6/net. . 
2 Notes on Little Known Species of South American Birds with Descriptions of New 
Subspecies. By Charles B. Cory. Field Museum of Nat. Hist. Publ..193. Zodlogical 
Series, Vol. XII, No.1. January 25,1917. pp. 3-7. 
3 The Birds of Bawean Island, Java Sea. By Harry C. Oberholser. Proc. U. S. Nat. 
Mus., Vol. 52, pp. 183-198. February 8, 1917. 
