Vol. xi i r 



Recent Literature. \ 6 2 



fourth quill, with a greyish — not white — area on the inner web. I must 

 confess that I have been unable to appreciate the difference." 



Clangula again replaces Glaucion, to which both Glaueionetta and 

 Charitonetta Stejn. are referred as synonyms. The American form 

 of the Golden-eye (americana) is not considered separable from true 

 clangula (here called glaucion). Of course Harelda is used in place of 

 Clangula for the Old-squaw ; and, as specific names published earlier 

 than 1766 are not recognized, hiemalis Linn., 1758, is ignored for glacial is 

 Linn., 1766; so that the species stands as Harelda glacialis. By what 

 rule Histrionicus Lesson, 1828, is set aside for Cosmouessa Kaup, 1829, 

 is not evident, unless it be to avoid the terrible tautology of Histri- 

 onicus histrionicus ! Somafcria mollissima borealis is not separated from 

 S\ mollissima. 



If our author is right, our Ruddy Duck must stand as Erismatura 

 jamaicensis (Gmelin, 17SS), instead of, as universally heretofore, E. 

 rubida (Wilson, 1814). 



Two species not included in the A. O. U. Check-List are attributed 

 to North America, namely: (1) Mergus albellus, which, on p. 467, is 

 said to occur "occasionally in North America," partly apparentlv on 

 old records now discredited, but also positively on the basis of a speci- 

 men in the British Museum, entered (p. 468) as " v" $ ad. st. N. 

 America, Hudson's Bay Co." (2) Oidemia carbo (Pall.), of which a 

 specimen (p. 412) is thus doubtfully recorded from Alaska, "q. (?) Juv. 

 sk. St. Michael's, Alaska, Oct. (E. W. Nelson). Salvin-Godman Coll." 

 Also: "? Northwestern America, south in winter to California," with 

 the following remark: "There are no adult specimens from Alaska in 

 the British Museum, so that I am unable to decide Alaskan birds really 

 belong to CE. carbo." 



The Crypturi, forming Order XX of the Carinate Birds in the svstem 

 of the British Museum Catalogue, constitute a single family, with 9 

 genera and 65 species, of which latter 14 are here described for the 

 first time. The group ranges from Mexico to Paraguay, and the 

 species are exceedingly difficult to discriminate. 



The volume concludes with the Ratite Birds, forming four orders and 

 five families, but numbering only about 27 species. 



As noted above, many changes from current nomenclature are intro- 

 duced, most of which would have been needless if the author could have 

 permitted himself to accept the 10th instead of the 12th edition of Linne's 

 ' Systema Naturae ' as his starting point for specific names. This is the 

 more to be regretted, since the 10th edition is now almost universally 

 accepted as the starting point for binomial names in zoological nomen- 

 clature. We also observe certain lapses from consistency in the use of 

 names in a specific sense which have also been adopted as generic names. 

 Thus unless Fuligula fuligula (p. 363) is a lapsus, it would seem proper, 

 in accordance with good modern usage, to employ also Cygnus cygnus in 

 place of Cygnus inusicus (p. 26) ; Coscoroba coscoroba instead of Coscoroba 



