234 Recent Literature. loa 



ward. Five females with enlarged ovaries were taken and one contained 

 an egg " that would have been deposited in one or two days." 



The two new birds discovered have been described by Mr. Cory in this 

 Journal (Vol. XII, 1S95, p. 278). One, Elainea cherriei, is related to 

 E.fallax of Jamaica, the other, Hyetornis fieldi, is a very interesting addi- 

 tion to this genus, which before contained only the Jamaican Hyetornis 

 fluvialis.— Y. M. C. 



Warren's ' Taxidermy ' and Bird-Laws. 1 — ■ Dr. Warren writes (Introduc- 

 tion, p. 9) : "This Bulletin has been prepared to enable earnest students of 

 ornithological science, who have complied with all the requirements of 

 the act of May 14, 18S9 (page 55), to learn some facts concerning the 

 collecting and preservation of birds and their eggs." The object is a 

 worthy one in so far as it relates to "earnest students of ornithological 

 science," but we fear that the wholesale distribution of a pamphlet of 

 this nature will awaken an interest in ' bird-stuffing ' and result in the 

 needless destruction of large numbers of birds. Birds mounted on 

 " plush-covered panels " or " bamboo screens" are surely not in use for 

 the " strictly scientific purposes" of the state law (p. 56), and sugges- 

 tions for purely decorative work of this kind seem out of place in a 

 treatise addressed to " students of ornithological science." 



We are surprised to see that in spite of Dr. Warren's efforts Hawks 

 and Owls are not protected by the Pennsylvania law. — F. M. C 



Ridgway and Lucas on a New Family of Birds. 2 — In ' The Auk ' for 

 April, 1895, p. 1S6, Mr. Lucas states that "Mr. Ridgway has found it 

 necessary to establish a new family for the reception of the genus Proc- 

 nias but the diagnosis has only recently appeared, in addition to which 

 Mr. Lucas gn es in a separate paper the osteological and ptervlographical 

 characters. The group has hitherto held the position of a subfamily of 

 the Tanagridae ; and no one familiar with these birds can have failed 

 to notice their aberrant characters, as compared with other Tanagers. 

 Mr. Lucas says, respecting the osteology, that the skull, " in spite of its 



1 Bulletin No. 6. Department of Agriculture. Division of Economic 

 Zoology. Taxidermy. How to Collect, Skin, Preserve and Mount Birds. 

 The Game and Fish Laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Illustrated. 

 By B. H. Warren, M. D., State Zoologist, Harrisburg, Pa. Second edition. 

 Clarence M. Busch, State Printer of Pennsylvania, 1S96. 8vo. pp. 128, fig. xi. 



2 Characters of a New American Family of Passerine Birds. By Robert 

 Ridgway, Curator of the Department of Birds. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., XVIII, 

 No. 1076, pp. 449, 450. 



Osteological and Pterylographical Characters of the Procniatidae. By F. A. 

 Lucas, Curator of the Department of Comparative Anatomy. Ibid., No. 1077, 

 pp. 505-507, with 5 cuts. 



