286 Recent Literature. [j"ly 



Ridgway on ' New Birds of the Families Tanagridae and Icteridae.'' ^ — 

 This is the seventh of Mr. Ridgway's series of papers describing new 

 forms of American birds, the preceding six having been published in 

 'The Auk,' Vols. XV-XVII (1898-1900). In the present paper Mr. 

 Ridgway characterizes of the family Tanagridje one new genus, Irido- 

 fhanes (type, Dacnis ptilcherrima Sclater), and one new species and five 

 new subspecies belonging to other genera of the family. Of the family 

 Icteridte he characterizes two new genera, Pseiidagelaius (type, Agelaius 

 iinthnrtii Sclater), and Xanthopsar (type, Orioliis fiavus Gmelin), and one 

 new species and eight new subspecies. Four of the subspecies occur in 

 the United States, namely, (i) Icterus cucullatus sennetti\ from the Lower 

 Rio Grande Valley ; (2) Agelaius. phxniceus fortis., ranging during migra- 

 tions from Montana and the Indian Territory to and including the Rock}' 

 Mountains and southward to Arizona and northern Chihuahua; (3) Age- 

 laius phceniceus neuiralis, ranging from the Great Basin Region of the 

 United States northward to eastern British Columbia and southward to 

 northern lower California; (4) Agelaius phocniceus caurinus, from the 

 Northwest Coast District, ranging from British Columbia to northern 

 California. 



Unfortunately Mr. Ridgway has adopted the name Scaphidurus Swain- 

 son for tlie Boat-tailed Grackles, named Megaqiiiscalus by Cassin, Mr. 

 Ridgway overlooking the fact that Scaphidurus is a pure synonym of 

 ^uiscalus, Swainson supposing ^uisculus to be untenable on account of 

 its supposed prior use in botany. — J. A. A. 



Buri on the Anatomy and Relations of the Swifts.^ — Dr. R. Buri. of 

 Bern, has recently published a lengthy paper " giving the results of an 

 extended studv of the wings of Cypselus melba and others of the Coracor- 

 nithes ; special attention has been given to the nerves of the wings, this 

 portion of the anatomy having been worked out in the most painstaking 

 manner. Dr. Burl's observations all go to confirm the correctness of the 

 view that the nearest allies of the Swifts are the Hummingbirds, but they 

 also point to a somewhat closer alliance with the Colies than has been 

 generally suspected and to a more distant alliance with the Caprimulgidie. 

 Unfortunately Dr. Buri had no specimen of Macropteryx, for it is quite 

 probable that nervation of this generalized and interesting genus shows 



1 New Birds of the Families Tanagridae and Icteridae. Proc. Wash. Acad. 

 Sci., Ill, pp. 149-155. April 15, 1901. 



- Zur Anatomie des Fliigele von Micropus melba und einigen anderen 

 Coracornithes ; zugleich Beitrag zur Kentniss der systematischen Stellung der 

 Cypselidae. Von Dr. Rud. O. Buri, Prosektor am veteriniir-anatomischen 

 Institut der Universitat Bern. Mit 6 Tafeln. Abdruck aus der Jenaischen 

 Zeitschrift fiir Naturwissenschaft. Bd. XXXIII, N. F. XXXI, 1900. Jena, 

 Gustav Fischer, 1900. 



