V0L 192?" VI1 ] Recent Literature. 613 



Other owls as is well known spend the day at rest on some suitable 

 perch and it is probably only the exposed habitat of this species that 

 makes it more conspicuous at this time and invites the assumption that 

 it is diurnal in habits. The ease with which we make unauthorized as- 

 sumptions may be seen at another point in Dr. Wood's paper where fol- 

 lowing the majority of writers he says that these owls mate "probably 

 for life" whereas Mr. Baldwin's investigations on bird breeding (cf. Auk, 

 1920 p.) seem to show that we have no warrant for any such assumption. 



Dr. Wood's paper is most welcome as we need just such special investi- 

 gation into the various organs of birds before we can hope for a proper 

 understanding of their systematic relationships. — W. S. 



Murphy on the Seacoast and Islands of Peru. — Mr. Robert Cush - 

 man Murphy has published two papers 1 descriptive of his recent trip to 

 the Peruvian seacoast which give one an interesting account of this country 

 and its physical features. Of especial interest to the zoologist is his 

 discussion of the ocean currents and their effect upon the distribution of 

 life on the Pacific coast of America. Many sketch maps show clearly 

 how cold currents, following the coast as far south as Cape San Lucas, 

 carry boreal types southward and how similar currents flowing northward 

 bring antarctic types as far as northern Peru, while warm ocean streams 

 on the west coast of Mexico, Central America and northern South Amer- 

 ica delimit the range of the tropical life found on the shores of this area. 

 The uniformity of surface temperature on the Peruvian coast as com- 

 pared with the western Atlantic and the percentage of salinity are dis- 

 cussed with reference to their effect upon animal life, while the climate 

 of Lima is graphically described as well as the faunal zones of Peru depen- 

 dent, as has been shown by Dr. Chapman in the case of Colombia farther 

 north, upon winds and cloud banks quite as much as upon elevation. 



Mr. Murphy's papers should be read by everyone interested in South 

 America and its fauna as well as by students of geographical distribution, 

 who will find in this southern continent factors which are entirely absent 

 in North America and which are quite novel to one trained to explain 

 everything by circum polar temperature zones and peculiarities of local 

 environment. — W. S. 



Dr. Shufeldt's Bibliography. — The seventh and eighth installments 

 of Dr. Shufeldt's bibliography 2 have appeared which bring the list down 

 to 1918, while the introductory pages contain much biographical matter. 

 — W. S. 



1 The Seacoast and Islands of Peru. By Robert Cusliman Murphy. Parts 1 

 and II. The Brooklyn Museum Quarterly, January and April, 1920. 



2 Complete List of My Published Writings with Brief Biographical Notes. By 

 R. W. Shufeldt, Medical Review of Reviews, July and August, 1920, pp. 368-377 

 and 437-447. 



