oo Recent Literature. 303 
Hartert also decline torecognize the genera Cacfornzs and Camarhynchus 
Gould, placing the whole group of thick-billed Finches, to the number of 
35 forms, under Geosfiza, notwithstanding the enormous difference 
between the two extremes of the series. (The extraordinary intergradation 
in the size and form of the bill is shown in Pl. viof the memoir.) In 
consequence of the much larger amount of material available for exam- 
ination, a number of Mr Ridgway’s forms are synonymized with others, 
notably in the genus Pyrocephalus, where the number of species is 
reduced from six to two. 
There is yet much to learn of the life histories of the birds of the 
Galapages Islands, and probably some new forms to be discovered, but, 
as our authors claim, little new light is to be expected respecting the 
origin of the avifauna and its relation to that of other countries. That it 
is American in origin in respect to all its elements there seems no reason 
to doubt, and that in the evolution of its forms it presents no features not 
found, in more or less marked degree, in numerous other groups of 
islands. —J. A. A. 
Salvadori and Festa on Birds of Ecuador.' The second and third 
parts of this report have now appeared, completing this valuable con- 
tribution to South American ornithology.* The first part included the 
Passeres oscines, the second part the Passeres clamatores, and the third 
and concluding part the Trochili and remaining groups. Part I contained 
165 species, including 5 new to science and 10 new to Ecuador; Part 
II included 181 species, with6 newto science and 7 new to Ecuador, and 
Part III, 266 species, of which 4 are described as new, and 34 are first 
recorded from Ecuador. The total number of species enumerated is 611, 
of which 17 were new to science and 51 new to Ecuador. The report 
includes much important technical matter, a record of the sex, date and 
place of capture of the specimens, and references to all the previous 
Ecuadorian records for each species, giving the localities from which 
they have been recorded. 
Ecuador is considered to be divisible into four physiographical regions, 
namely, a Western, an Inter-Andean, an Eastern, and the Andean proper, 
each characterized by differences of altitude, temperature, humidity and 
vegetation. The birds especially characteristic of these several regions 
are briefly indicated. 
As already noted, this carefully prepared report on Dr. Festa’s large 
collection from Ecuador is not only an important contribution to South 
American ornithology but an especially valuable addition to our know- 
ledge of the Ecuadorian ornis. —J. A. A. 
‘Viaggio del Dr. Eurico Festa nell’ Ecuador. TT. Salvadori ed. E. Festa. 
Ucelli. Part seconda, Passeres clamatores. Boll. Mus. Zool. ed Anat. Comp. 
d. R. Univ. di Torino, XV, No. 236, pp. 1-34, Nov. 1899. Parte terza, Trochili- 
Tinami. Ibid., No. 398, pp. 1-54. Feb. 19, 1900. 
* For notice of Part I, see Auk, Jan. 1900, pp. 81, 82. 
