° 1915 J Recent Literature. 513 



The question of recognition of genera and subspecies is of course a matter 

 of personal opinion, though he brings out some important and original 

 facts in treating of the Gannets and Frigate Bird. 



In consideration of the general accuracy of minute details we might call 

 attention to the apparent omission of a synonym under Mesocarbo ater ater. 

 We are informed in the last paragraph that the bird figured is the type of 

 M. a. territori but this name occurs nowhere else in the article. So also 

 with II ijpnleiifiiK rnriiis whyO-i under //. v. p&rthi. 



We note as new forms only the following Phcdacrocorax carbo indicus 

 (p. 171) India; Sc&ophaethon rubricaiida rothschildi (p. 303) Laysan, Niihau; 

 S. r. breirirostris (p. 303) Bonin Isls. Most of the new names required in 

 the treatment of the Peleeaniformes have been previously published in 

 the 'Austral Avian Record'. — W. 8. 



Recent Monographs by Oberholser. 1 — Mr. Oberholser has recently 

 published the results of three careful systematic studies of the American 

 Spotted Owl; the Ruddy Kingfisher; and Long-tailed Goatsucker of the 

 far East. 



He finds that the four recognized races of the Spotted Owl resolve them- 

 selves into two valid forms. Strix o. occidentalis of the Pacific Coast 

 region of which S. 0. cuuriiui is a synonym and S. 0. lucida ranging from 

 Colorado and western Texas to northern Mexico, of which S. o. huachucce 

 is a synonym. The presence of a dark and light phase of plumage in this 

 species is responsible in part for the description of so many supposed races. 



Of the Kingfisher Entornolhera coromanda nine races are recognized of 

 which five are new. E. c. mizorhina (p. 645) N. Andaman isl.; E. c. 

 neophora (p. 646), Tapanuli Bay, Sumatra; E. c. pagana (p. 648), N. 

 Pagi Isl., Sumatra; E. c. ochrothorectis (p. 652), Masbate Isl., Philippines, 

 and E. c. bangsi (p. 654) Ishigaki Isl., Riu Kiu Isls. 



The goatsucker, Caprimulgus macrurus, is also divisible into nine races, 

 C. m. mesophanis (p. 590), Ambrina Isl. and C. >». anamesus (p. 593), 

 Singapore Isl., being new. These papers straighten out three difficult 

 groups of birds very satisfactorily. — W. S. 



Nature and Science onthe Pacific Coast. 2 — This little volume is 



1 Critical Notes on the Subspecies of Hie Spotted Owl, Strix occidentalis (Xan- 

 tus). By Harry C. Oberholser. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 49, pp. 251 -2 r >7. July 

 26, 1915. 



\ Review of the Subspecies of the Ruddy Kingfisher, Entomothera coromanda 

 (Linnaeus). By Harry C. Oberholser. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 48, pp. 639 <i".T. 

 May 18, 1915. 



A Synopsis of the Races of the Long-tailed Goatsucker, Caprimulgus macrurus 

 Horsfield. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 48, pp. 587-599. May 3, 1915. 



2 Nature and Science on the Pacific Coast. A Guide-book for Scientific Travelers 

 in the. West. Edited under the Auspices of the Pacific Coast Committee of Hie 

 American Association for the Advancement of Science, illustrated with Nine- 

 teen text figures, twenty-nine half-tone plates and fourteen maps. Paul Elder 

 and Company, Publishers. San Francisco. 12 mo., pp. 1-294. 



