V ° 1 'i9i8 Xy ] Recent Literature. 91 



it is the so called ' typical ' form, as for instance Planesticus migratorius 

 migratorius, for the Robin, but in the case of the Hermit Thrush it would 

 seem more consistent to have headed the text with Hylocichla guttata gut- 

 tata than with H. g. pallasi. This however simply shows the need that has 

 recently been emphasized of a binomial nomenclature for popular orni- 

 thology and a vernacular name for each binomial group. Then we should 

 have had for a heading in the case referred to Hylocichla guttata the Hermit 

 Thrush, and if subspecies were to be mentioned at all, their trinomial 

 names could have been given in the end of the text along with their char- 

 acteristics and ranges. This is a fault of the A. O. U. Check-List, however, 

 and not of ' The Birds of America.' 



At the head of each account is given a list of vernacular names; a general 

 description and detailed account of coloration; a description of the nest and 

 eggs; and the range of the bird. This information is taken from Ridg- 

 way's ' Birds of North and Middle America ' and the A. O. U. ' Check-List,' 

 popularized where necessary by the alteration of technical terms. There 

 are several color keys at the end of the work, a glossary and a bibliography. 

 The last is rather an unfortunate effort, as remarkable for what it omits as 

 for what it includes and with no indication of what the various books treat. 

 There should at least have been a geographical list of works on the bird 

 life of the several states, since the first thing the general reader will desire, 

 after having his interest aroused by a work of this kind, is a special publica- 

 tion on the birds of his own region. 



The paper upon which the work is printed is heavily sized in order to 

 carry the large number of half-tone figures, which makes it exceedingly 

 heavy, but the typography is good and the printing of both text and plates 

 well done as is also the binding, making all in all an exceedingly attractive 

 work.— W. S. 



'Tropical Wild Life in British Guiana'. 1 — This volume published 

 by the New York Zoological Society, presents the results of the first sea- 

 son's work at the tropical research station, established in British Guiana 

 under the direction of William Beebe and conducted by him from March to 

 August, 1916. The enterprise marks an innovation in tropical zoological 

 research, making possible the study of living or freshly killed tropical ani- 

 mals in their native haunts, whereas heretofore field work has of necessity 

 been mainly limited to securing and preserving specimens to be studied by 

 specialists in museums, far distant from the home of the animals them- 



1 Tropical Wild Life in British Guiana. Zoological Contributions from The Tropical 

 Research Station of The New York Zoological Society. By William Beebe, Directing 

 Curator, G. Inness Hartley, Research Associate and Paul G. Howes, Research Assistant, 

 with an Introduction by Colonel Theodore Roosevelt. Volume I. Photographs and 

 Other Illustrations by the Authors. Published by the New York Zoological Society, 111 

 Broadway, New York City. January, 1917 [distributed in November]. 8vo. pp. i-xx + 

 1-504, 4 colored plates and numerous half-tone illustrations. 



