I56 Recent Literature. [ April 



a". Color lighter, gray and buff tints predominating over the darker 

 markings; lower parts whiter. 

 (>' . General aspect above grayish with more or less huffy admixture ; 

 dark markings below distinct. 



r'. Size small, w. 13 in., tarsi, strongly mottled. 



B. virginianus pacificus Cass. 

 c". Size large, w 16 in., tarsi with mottling much less dis- 

 tinct. . B. virginianus. occidcntalis subsp. now 

 /'". General aspect above white, ground color faded, beneath pure 

 white with dark markings restricted. 



B. virginianus arcticus (Swains.). 



A specimen of B. virginianus pacificus Cass, before me (No. 

 27905, coll. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., San Bernardino, Cal., April, 

 1887, rf , coll. by R. B. Herron) measures: wing, 12.95 ! culmen, 

 1.48; tarsus (to insertion of hind toe), 1.80; middle claw to 

 sheath, .95. 



The type of B. virginianus occidentalis (No. 26435, co ^- Acad. 

 Nat. Sci. Phila., Mitchell Co., Iowa, winter, 1880, coll. W. L. 

 Abbott), probably a female, measures : wing, 16; culmen, 1.80; 

 tarsus (to insertion of hind toe), 2.50; middle claw to sheath, 

 1.25. 



The markings of pacificus, especially beneath, seem to average 

 darker than in occidentalism in such specimens as I have seen. 

 The exact range of the two I cannot ascertain without examin- 

 ing a larger series. 



RECENT LITERATURE. 



The 'Birds' of 'The Royal Natural History.' 1 — The last half of 

 Volume III of 'The Royal Natural History' is devoted to Birds, Volumes 



1 The Royal | Natural History | Edited by | Richard Lydekker, B. A., 

 F. R. S., Etc. I With Preface by | P. L. Sclater, M. A., Ph.D., F. R. S., Etc. | 

 Secretary of the Zoological Society of London | Illustrated with | Seventy- 

 two Coloured Plates and Sixteen Hundred Engravings | by W. Kuhnert, 

 F. Specht, P. J. Smit, G. Mutzel, A. T. Elwes, J. Wolf, | Gambier Bolton, 

 F. Z. S., and many others | Vol. III. | London | Frederick Warne & Co. | 

 and New York | 1894-95 | [All Rights Reserved.] Super Royal Svo. Birds, 

 Vol. Ill, pp. 289-576, Vol. IV, pp. 1-192 {et seq.). 



