° ' 19 ig j Recent Literature. 95 



Oberholser on the Subspecies of Leach's Petrel. 1 — No less than 

 three petrels of this group have been described from the western coast of 

 North America. — Oceanodroma kaedingi, beali and beldingi. Difference of 

 opinion has prevailed as to their relationship to one another as well as to 

 0. leucorhoa. After the study of a large series of specimens including the 

 types of all the west coast forms, Mr. Oberholser comes to the conclusion 

 that true leucorhoa is found in the North Pacific as well as in the Atlantic. 

 That 0. beali is recognizable as a smaller subspecies ranging from south- 

 eastern Alaska to California and that O. kaedingi is a still better marked 

 subspecies occurring off the coast of Lower California. 0. beldingi he can- 

 not separate from beali. It will be interesting to see whether his con- 

 clusions will be endorsed by others or whether a still different conclusion 

 will be reached by the next student of the group. Certainly he has pre- 

 sented the most careful and detailed study that has yet been offered. — 

 W. S. 



Oberholser on Birds from Islands in the Java and China Seas. — 



The first of these papers 2 covers collections from four islands, Solombo 

 Besar, Arends, Pulo, Mata Siri and Pulo Kalambau. Fourteen new forms 

 are described as well as one new genus, Perissolalage (p. 182) type P. 

 chalepa sp. nov., from Solombo Besar, based on a single female. Another 

 more extended paper 3 treats of the birds of the Anamba Islands, fifty-six 

 in number, of which nineteen are new subspecies here described for the first 

 time. All the collections were made by Dr. W. L. Abbott. — W. S. 



Paxson on the Last of the Wild Pigeon in Bucks County, Pennsyl- 

 vania. 4 — Col. Paxson has spent much time in gathering the data contained 

 in this interesting paper and is to be congratulated upon publishing it and 

 thus placing it on permanent record. Upon glancing over the pages we 

 realize what an amount of information can be gathered by interviewing 

 old pigeon trappers and hunters, and are surprised that more intelligent 

 research along these lines has not been conducted. Some of the informa- 

 tion gathered in this manner is probably of no great value but much of it 

 is extremely interesting and when we realize that not only is the last pigeon 

 dead, but that every year the men who formerly hunted the bird are 

 becoming fewer and fewer, we appreciate work of the sort that has resulted 



1 A Review of the Subspecies of the Leach Petrel, Oceanodroma leucorhoa (Vieillot). By 

 Harry C. Oberholser. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., Vol. 54, pp. 165-172. Published October 

 19, 1917. 



2 Birds Collected by Dr. W. L. Abbott on Various Islands in the Java Sea. By Harry C. 

 Oberholser. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., Vol. 54, pp. 177-200. November 2, 1917. 



3 The Birds of the Anamba Islands, Bull. 98, U. S. Nat. Mus., pp. 1-75, June 30, 

 1917 [not received until November. 1 



4 The Last of the Wild Pigeon in Bucks County. A Paper by Henry D. Paxson. Bead at 

 the Fall Meeting of the Bucks County Historical Society, held at Chalfont, Bucks County, 

 Pennsylvania, Tuesday, October 22, 1912. [Printed October, 1917.] 8vo, pp. 1-18. 



