424 Recent Literature. [^ £ k 



somewhat obscured by olive green tips to the feathers, most pronounced 

 on occiput and nape where the ground color is entirely concealed. This 

 differs but slightly from the plumage of winter males but is not apparent 

 in a series of early July specimens, including two taken on same date. 

 Were this the only difference I would not deem it worthy of especial men- 

 tion, as it may be a common plumage of the non-breeding bird, but there 

 is a decided difference on the under parts. The breast is lemon yellow, 

 contrasting sharply with the black of the throat and blending into yellow- 

 ish white on the abdomen and gray on sides. The entire plumage is 

 soft, silky and bright, while in normal examples taken at this season 

 it is rough, worn and dull. The sperm ducts were the only evidence of 

 sex I could discover on dissection. It was undoubtedly a non-breeding 

 bird. — J. Claire Wood, Detroit, Michigan. 



RECENT LITERATURE. ' 



Stephens's ' Life Areas of California.' — In a paper : of eight pages, illus- 

 trated with a map, Mr. Stephens summarizes briefly the principal causes 

 controlling the geographical distribution of life, and then proceeds to a 

 detailed, but also brief, consideration of the faunal areas of California, 

 which presents a greater diversity of physical conditions than any other 

 well known region of similar size. With a latitudinal extent of 600 miles, 

 it varies in altitude from below sea level to elevations of nearly 15,000 feet. 

 The north and south trend of the high mountain ranges abstracts the 

 moisture from the air as the winds from the sea pass over them, leaving 

 beyond in the interior areas of great aridity, the annual rainfall in differ- 

 ent parts of the State ranging from 80 inches in the northwestern part to 

 3 or 4 inches in the southeastern part. Under these varied conditions the 

 life zones of the State range from the arctic to the subtropical, the former, 

 however, occupying only limited areas on the higher mountain crests and 

 the latter restricted to the bottom lands of the Colorado River. 



Mr. Stephens's major divisions are as currently recognized, the special 

 purpose of the paper being the definition of the minor faunal areas, or 

 ' Faunas,' of which he provisionally defines 17. These are : 



1. Humboldt Fauna, — a narrow coast belt extending from Oregon 

 south to San Francisco Bay. Transition. 



2. Shasta Fau?ia, — the region about Mount Shasta. Transition. 



3. Modoc Fauna, — the northeastern part of the State, north of Honej 

 Lake, and east of Mount Shasta. Transition. 



4. Sacramento Fauna, — Sacramento-San Joaquin Valleys. Lower 

 Austral. 



1 Life Areas of California. By Frank Stephens. Trans. San Diego [Califor- 

 nia] Society of Nat. Hist., Vol. I, No. 1, 1905, pp. 1-8, with map. 



