Vol. XIX 



igo2 



J Recent Literature. 407 



map indicates, on degree of humiditv rather than on true faunal condi- 

 tions — humiditv and temperature combined. They thus do not corre- 

 spond to areas commonly designated as 'faunal,' based on the peculiar 

 association of species as determined primarily by temperature and second- 

 arily, in most cases, by humidity. California offers an almost unique 

 field for this sort of research, and it is gratifying to see that the subject 

 is receiving so much attention. 



A very full and satisfactory index, including all the names mentioned 

 in the ' sj-nonj'my,' completes this very important and exceedingly useful 

 contribution to California ornithology. — J. A. A. 



Berlepsch and Hartert on the Birds of the Orinoco Region.' — This 

 excellent memoir is based on collections made by Mr. and Mrs. George 

 K. Cherrie in 1897, 1898 and 1899, on the Orinoco River, with much addi- 

 tional material collected by Mr. Samuel M. Klages, partly on the Caura 

 River, and by Mr. E. Andre on the Nicare, a tributary of the Caura. The 

 number of specimens thus available for study is not stated, but must be 

 several thousand. The number of species and subspecies represented is 

 46S, of which 8 species and 44 subspecies are described as new, as well as 

 one genus. Localities and dates of collection are given, with notes on 

 the color of bill, feet, iris, and ' soft parts,' as furnished by the collectors. 

 There is also, passim, important comment on nomenclatural questions, 

 the relationship of forms, etc. The memoir closes with some ' General 

 Conclusions ' (signed E. H.) on the faunal relations of the different parts 

 of the region under treatment. Owing to the many difficulties presented, 

 none of the collectors was able to reach "the unexplored tableland and 

 mountain ranges forming the watershed between the basins of the Ama- 

 zon and Orinoco Rivers, marked as the 'Sierra Parima' on the maps," 

 which region hence still offers a tempting field for ornithological explora- 

 tion. 



In this connection the authors have done good service in attempting to 

 fix type regions for the species described by previous authors from 

 unknown, erroneous, or vaguely given localities. They have " in everv 

 case quoted the original description, which is the basis of our knowledge 

 of each particular form," to which their citations are mainly limited, 

 instead of including well known works, such as the British Museum ' Cat- 

 alogue of Birds,' "where everybody knows that the bird is described or 

 mentioned." "Where no locality is stated in the first description, or 

 where the given locality is vague or erroneous, -we have added or substi- 

 tuted a sufficiently exact ' habitat' as a starting-point. These additions and 

 substitutes are not arbitrarily chosen, but always those that are the actual 

 or the most likely ones whence the types have come, as apparent from the 



' On the Birds of the Orinoco Region. By Count Hans von Berlepsch and 

 Ernest Hartert. Novitates Zoologicas, Vol. IX, 1902, pp. 1-134, pi. xii. 



