'Sgi-J Recent Literature. 



377 



other birds, this section inchiding also a contribution on the anatomy' of 

 Hummingbirds bj Mr. Frederic A. Lucas (pp. 290-29^, pi. xv, and figs. 

 1-4). Under 'Variations' are described and profusely illustrated the 

 wide range of external structure, as aftecting the general size, the form 

 and structure of the bill (figs. 5-14), the wing (figs. 15-25), and the tail 

 (figs. 26-29, and pll. xvi-xxiv, in all 45 figures), and also the head and 

 throat ornaments, etc., (Figs. 30-46, and pll. xxvi-xxxiv). By means of 

 the copious illustrations a very good idea is conveyed of the very diverse 

 forms of structure of bill, wings, tail, and head ornaments present in 

 the various groups of this exceptionally numerous and diversified family. 

 A few pages are given to ' Colors of the Plumage,' and ' Cause of the 

 Changeable Hues of Humming Birds,' with brief descriptions of some of 

 the more brilliantly colored species. 



The last half of the paper (pp. 312-3S3) is devoted to ' Humming Birds of 

 the United States.' These number seventeen species, of which only seven 

 can be considered as characteristic of the region, the other ten either barely 

 crossing our border or being of purely casual occurrence. The 'Key to 

 the Genera' given, however, includes all of the genera found in Mexico, 

 Cuba, and the Bahamas, as well as in the United States, being in fact an 

 'adaptation' of that given in the same authors ' Manual of North Ameri- 

 can Birds.' Uncolored original figures are given (pll. xxxv-xlvi) of 

 tiiirteen of the species, including Trockilus violajugulum Jeffries, and 

 Selnsphorus Jlore^ii Gould, the foriner known only from the tvpe, the 

 other " accidental near San Francisco, California," and known only from 

 this and one other specimen, the latter from Bolanos, Mexico 



Detailed descriptions are also given of several species wrongly attribu- 

 ted to North America, namely : Lampor7tis nigricollis (Vieill.), a South 

 American species attributed to Florida by Audubon; Attliis heloha (L. 

 & DeL.), of Eastern Mexico, wrongly attributed to El Paso, Texas, 

 througii misidentification of a young example of Stellula calliope; and 

 Agyrtria tobaci (Gm.), of northern South America, supposed (in all 

 probability erroneously) to have been taken at Cambridge, Mass. 



A vast amount of general information about Hummingbirds is thus 

 brought together, in addition to an elaborate and very detailed account of 

 those occurring north of the West Indies and Mexico, with some account 

 of their nearest congeneric allies found in the contiguous regions to tlie 

 southward. — ^J. A. A. 



Merriam on the Life Areas of North America. — In his recent Presiden- 

 tial Address before the Biological Society of Washington Dr. Merriam* 

 resumes consideration of the geographic distribution of lite in North 

 America, a subject already treated by him at some length in 'North Amer- 



* The Geographic Distribution of Life in North America with Special Reference to 

 the Mammalia. Annual Presidential Address, delivered at the Twelfth Anniversary 

 Meeting of the Biological Society of Washington, February 6, 1892. By C. Hart 

 Merriam, M. D. Proc. Biol. Soc. of Washington, Vol. VH, pp. 1-64, with map. 

 April, 1892. 

 39 



