Q2 Rece?it Literature. T^ ulc 



y LJan. 



arranged under four categories : (i) ' Species that range to the mainland 

 of South America ' — about 20; (2) ' Species known to range to but not 

 beyond Panama,' — 7 species ; (3) 'Species entering Mexico and Central 

 America but not known to reach Panama' — 9 species ; (4) 'Species that 

 do not regularly winter on the mainland south of the United States, but 

 remain in the Southern States or the West Indies ' — 11 species. 



The species formally treated in the ' Systematic ' part (pp. 16-139) 

 include only those found north of Mexico and in Lower California, and 

 are taken up in the sequence of the A. O. U. Check-List ; they number 

 "59 species and 19 subspecies." "In each case," says the author, " the 

 breeding range is given first, then the winter range, followed by a synop- 

 sis of the time of spring migration and of fall migration. ... Most 

 interest attaches to the movements of the warblers of the eastern part of 

 the United States that pass by flight over water to their winter homes. 

 These, therefore, receive full treatment, while less is said of the migra- 

 tion of the western species that make the journey from the United States 

 to Mexico and southward entirely by land. Special attention has been 

 paid to the definition of the southern limit of the breeding range 

 of each species — a subject that for many years has received the careful 

 consideration of the Biological Survey. So far as known to the writer," 

 continues the author, "the present paper is the first attempt to define 

 exactly the northern limit of the winter range of each species, and also 

 to indicate the altitudinal range of the same in its winter home." 



The above extract fully sets forth the scope and aims of the work, which 

 appear to have been carried out with all possible care and completeness; 

 and we have thus a contribution to ornithological literature as unique as 

 it is important. Based largely on records received from voluntary 

 observers by the Biological Survey, from land stations and lighthouses 

 covering a wide area and a period of twenty years or more, other unpub- 

 lished records from Mexico, Nicaragua, and especially Costa Rica, have 

 also been available, and the literature of ornithology has been syste- 

 matically examined, and thousands of scattered records have been col- 

 lated and utilized. While there are still gaps to be filled, as along the 

 Gulf coast of the United States, and in Middle America between Mexico 

 and Costa Rica, we have at least the main facts convenientlv accessible, 

 for which we should be deeply grateful. — J. A. A. 



Osgood on Birds of Alaska. — In his account of 'A Biological Recon- 

 naissance of the Base of the Alaska Peninsula,' ' made during the summer 

 and fall of 1902, Mr. Osgood gives a general account of the country 

 traversed, with lists of the mammals and birds (pp. 51-81) collected or 

 observed by him, or hitherto recorded or collected by others. He landed 



1 North American Fauna, No. 24, November 23, 1904, pp. 1-86, with 2 maps 

 and 5 half-tone plates. 



