1S93.] Recent Literature. 1 77 



in what is known as the Alleghanian faunal belt, with a strong tinge oi' 

 the Canadian fauna in the deep forests, and a slight Carolinian element 

 in the lower clearings." The elevation of the lake is 1250 feet above sea- 

 level, while the mountains around it rise icx) to 150 feet higher. With 

 Mr. Dwight's paper on 'The Summer Birds of the Crest of the Pennsyl- 

 vania AUeghanies,' published in the present number of 'The Auk,' and 

 the various other recent contributions to the same subject, the bird fauna 

 of the Alleghanian region, from Pennsylvania southward, bids fair to be- 

 come soon well known. — J. A. A. 



Allen on the North American Colaptes.* — As there are doubtless many 

 readers of 'The Auk' wlio will not be so fortunate as to see this paper, it 

 seems desirable on account of its great interest and importance to present 

 a brief summary of its contents. 



After mentioning the sources of the material (7S5 specimens) on which 

 his study of this group is based, and referring to the several theories that 

 have been suggested as to the relationships between C auratiis and C. 

 cafer, the author proceeds to state the distinctive characters and geo- 

 graphical distribution of each member of the genus that is found north of 

 Panama. The distribution is well illustrated by a map. 



C. incxicni/oides o( G\\■^.\.Qn^■^.\^ is essentially C. cafcr with the coloration 

 intensified, the black dorsal bars broadened, rump spotted with black, en- 

 tire top of head and nape rufous, quills and malar stripe a deeper, darker 

 red. Its habitat very probably reaches to that of C. cafer which species 

 is found from the southern border of Me.xico northward throughout 

 Mexico, excepting western Sonora and Lower California, and from the 

 eastern base of the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific north to Bi-itish Co- 

 lumbia. "C riifipileas^ from Guadalupe Island, oft" Lower California, is 

 an insular form of cafer, diftering .... mainly in smaller size, much 

 longer bill, and rather deeper colors, in this latter respect rather more re- 

 sembling C. cafcr satiiratior of the Northwest Coast," which differs from 

 cafer "in slightly larger size and much deeper colors." 



C chryf^oides ranges through most of Lower California and parts of 

 Sonora, southern Arizona, and southeastern California. "To the north- 

 ward and eastward its habitat thus reaches, and at some points (at least 

 in winter) overlaps, that of C cafer, with which, however, it appears 

 never to blend." It is "a small, pale form presenting the general appear- 

 ance oi 7nexicanoidex," but having the quills golden as in aiiratus, though 

 possessing no other of the distinctive characters of the Eastern form. 



"C. a?iratus while ranging over the northern and eastern three fourths 

 of the continent of North America, has also two outlying insular forms, 



*The North American Species of the Genus Colaptes, considered with Special Refer- 

 ence to the Relationships of C. auratus and C. cafer. By J. A. Allen. Bulletin Amer- 

 ican Museum of Natural History, New York, Vol. IV, No. i, Article II, pp. 21—44, 

 map. Author's edition published March 8, 1892. 

 23 



