°' 19 2o J Recent Literature. 151 



Society, Mr. Hine presents an annotated list of thirty-seven species of 

 birds secured by the party with notes on a number of others which he 

 observed. 



The notes are full and contain much of interest in regard to the habits 

 and distribution of the species considered. Unfortunately there is no men- 

 tion of the length of time that was spent in the district nor any sort of 

 itinerary or even an indication of where Katmai might be. This is, of 

 course, all contained in some of the other reports but as no reference to 

 them is here given, the ornithologist who reads Mr. Hine's paper must 

 needs do without this information. We notice several departures from 

 the nomenclature of the A. O. U. ' Check-List ' but no reason for them is 

 advanced by the author — as for instance why he regards the Short- 

 billed Gull as a subspecies of the European Larus canus or why he prefers 

 the generic name Glottis for the Greater Yellow-legs and Heteroscelis for 

 the Tattler. When we have an authoritative and generally used list it 

 seems desirable to follow its nomenclature in a paper of this sort or at least 

 to state when and why we depart from it. 



The illustrations consist of three text figures from photographs and two 

 full page half-tones of Cormorants and Puffins, Sparrows and Ptarmigan, 

 from drawings. 



Mr. Hine's paper is a welcome contribution to the ornithology of the 

 great Alaskan region which still offers many opportunities for ornithological 

 exploration. — W. S. 



Witherby's ' Handbook of British Birds.' » — Part 4 of this notable 

 work completes the Wagtails and covers the Creepers, Nuthatches Titmice, 

 Kinglets and Shrikes. There is a colored plate of the Tits and two half-tone 

 plates illustrating the seasonal plumages of the White and Pied Wagtails 

 and the heads and juvenal plumages of various species, as well as numerous 

 text figures. 



The treatment follows the plan of the earlier parts and is quite up to the 

 standard there established. Under the Creepers we notice one statement 

 to which we would take exception, namely the disposition of the American 

 Brown Creeper as a subspecies of Certhia brachydactyla. This on geographi- 

 cal grounds alone would seem very unlikely, and Dr. H. C. Oberholser has 

 recently shown (' Auk,' October, 1918) that its relationship was, as we had 

 always supposed, distinctly with C. familiaris. Mr. Witherby doubtless 

 overlooked this paper as he states that this part is brought up to the date 

 of July 31, 1919. 



Part 5 completes the Shrikes and covers the Waxwing, the Flyeat3hers 

 and most of the Warblers. The two latter groups are regarded as forming 

 part of one great family to which belong also the Thrushes and most of the 



1 A Practical Handbook of British Birds. Edited by H. F. Witherby. Part 4 (pp. 209- 

 272), September 26, 1919. Part 5 (pp. 273-336) ^November 5, 1919. Witherby & Co., 

 326, High Holborn, W. C. 1, London. Price 4s. net per part. 



