Vo'^-gXXVj Recent Literature. 99 



allied genera may exhibit great differences in this respect. Hence, the 

 types of canals bear no relation to different modes of locomotion, and have 

 also no taxonomic value. Five different types are described and figured; 

 but "in type 2 occurs Catharista, one of the best flyers, and in the same 

 group Geococcy.r; which .seldom flies but is one of the ablest runners." 

 This appears to be the first attempt to investigate the relation of the bony 

 canals in birds' ears to locomotion, or to genetic affinity, and are thus of 

 special interest, since the relative size and structure of these canals has 

 been supposed to have some relation to power and manner of flight. Pre- 

 siunably a knowledge of these structures would be of some use in taxonomy, 

 but it proves to have such importance only within narrow limits. — J. A. A. 



A Twenty-five Year Index to 'The Auk' and 'Nuttall Bulletin.' ' — In 



November, 1S99, the Council of the American Ornithologists' Union ap- 

 pointed a Committee to prepare for publication an Index to 'The Auk' 

 and its predecessor, the 'Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club,' to 

 cover the twenty-five year period from 1876 to 1900. 



The Committee was a large one. and proceeded at once to its work. 

 Each volume was indexed by two persons independently; their work was 

 collated by a third member of the Committee, and verified by Dr. Jonathan 

 Dwight, Jr., the Chairman of the Committee and Editor of the Index. The 

 work was thus very laborious and time-taking, some 34,000 cards having 

 been turned in in duplicate by the indexers to the editor for revision and 

 preparation for the press. This, with unexpected delays in the printing, 

 has deferred the appearance of the volume beyond the anticipated date of 

 publication, but the final results are eminently satisfactory, and form a 

 well-printed volume of nearly 450 pages. As stated by the editor, it forms 

 "a guide to a large part of the ornithological literature of the last quarter 

 of the nineteenth century." The references are classified and arranged in 

 a way to facilitate finding any infonnation required. The titles include 

 papers and works reviewed as well as the papers and notes here first pub- 

 lished, arranged in chronological sequence under the names of the authors. 

 Under localities (as States and countries) are entered all geographical 

 references, alphabetically by the names of the authors, followed by citation 

 of volmne and page. Species are entered primarily under their respective 

 genera, under their A. U. O. Check-List names, 1895 to 1900, when North 

 American, or their current names in Sharpe's 'Hand-list' or Ridgway's 

 ' Birds of North and Middle America when extralimital, with cross-refer- 

 ences to their synonyms. (For index convenience subspecies are treated 



1 Index I to the | Bulletin | of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, Volumes I-VIII — 

 1876-1883 I and to its continuation | The Auk, Volumes I-XVII — 1884-1900 | 

 Compiled by a Committee of tlie American Ornithologists' Union | Edited by | 

 Jonathan Dwight, Jr., M. D. | [vignette] New York, ! Published by the American 

 Ornithologists' Union | 1907 — 8vo, pp. viii + 426. Price in paper covers, $3.25 

 net; bound in cloth, $3.75 net. Orders should be addressed to Jonathan Dwight, 

 Jr., Treasurer, 134 West 71st St., New York, N. Y. 



