Yol 'i9i9 XVI ] R ecent Literature. 595 



aid of numerous explorers of the far north has had to be sought to secure the 

 series of photographs which has been here reproduced. Messrs. Mac- 

 Millan and Ekblaw, of the American Museum's Crocker Land Expedition, 

 were especially generous in this connection. 



We have no doubt that while gathering the material presented in this 

 volume Mr. Bent has also secured the bulk of the information necessary 

 for the treatment of many other groups, and we trust that other ' Life 

 Histories ' will follow at frequent intervals. 



It is obviously the intention of the U. S. National Museum authorities 

 to issue each set of ' Life Histories ' as a separate work, since there is no 

 general title and nothing to indicate that other parts will appear, except 

 an incidental reference by the author to " subsequent parts " in the intro- 

 duction. 



Just as Bendire's work was a decided improvement upon the unfinished 

 work of Brewer (1857), so Bent has made a great advance over Bendire, and 

 his ' Life Histories ' will, we feel, be for many years the authoritative work 

 on the subject, forming an admirable parallel series to the technical sys- 

 tematic volum.es of Ridgway's ' Birds of North and Middle America.' 



Let all ornithologists read carefully the last part of Mr. Bent's introduc- 

 tion, and if they have any information on any of the remaining species of 

 water birds that may be of assistance to him, let them send it on at once. 

 And let the author make all speed with his remaining parts. Two works 

 of the kind have been left unfinished, but on the plan he has adopted and 

 with the cooperation that is offered him, he should easily bring these life 

 histories to a completion and establish another milestone in these progress 

 of American ornithology. — W. S. 



Ridgway's ' The Birds of North and Middle America,' Part VIII. 1 — 



This long expected part of Mr. Ridgway's great work has at last appeared, 

 having been long held up by war conditions. It is entirely devoted to a 

 consideration of the Charadriiformes or Plover-like birds, in which group 



1 The Birds I of | North and Middle America: | A Descriptive Catalogue I of the | Higher 

 Groups, Genera, Species, and Subspecies of Birds | Known to Occur in North America, 

 from the | Arctic Lands to the Isthmus of Panama, | the West Indies and Other Islands| 

 of the Caribbean Sea, and the | Galapagos Archipelago. | By | Robert Ridgway, | Curator, 

 Division of Birds. ! Part VIII. | 



Family Jacanidse — The Jacanas. Family Phalaropodidae — The Phalaropes. 



Family (Edicnemidae — The Thick-knees. Family Recurvirostridae — ■ The Avocets and 



Stilts. 

 Family Haematopodidae — The Oyster- Family Rynchopidae — The Skimmers. 



catchers. 

 Family Arenariidae — The Turnstones. Family Sternidae — The Terns. 



Family Aphrizidae — The Surf Birds. Family Laridsp — The Gulls. 



Family Charadriidae — The Plovers. Family Stercorariidae — The Skuas. 



Family Scolopacidae — The Snipes. Family Alcidae — The Auks. I 



Washington: | Government Printing Office. | 1919. | pp. i-xvi-l-S.52, pll. i-xxxiv. 

 (repotted as published June, 1919, but not received until September 4). 



