"^'ol.XXXIj Recent Literature. * 415 



to it and its offspring. It is generalized in structure and easily adapt- 

 able, but has as yet shown no specialization to a marsh environment. He 

 thinks on this latter account that the bird may have only recently deserted 

 the grassland for the marsh and this view is further strengthened by 

 the fact that it reverts readUy to nestuig in the grassland and deserts 

 the marsh almost as soon as the young are reared. There are many 

 other important points in Dr. Allen's admirable monograph which cannot 

 be touched upon here, but the work is well worthy of the careful perusal 

 of every ornithologist. Twenty-two half-tone plates illustrate the habi- 

 tats, nests, birds, etc. — W. S. 



Beebe's Preliminary Pheasant Studies and Other Papers. — Mr. 



Beebe presents in a recent paper i some of the results of his study of the 

 pheasants preparatory to issuing his monograph of these beautiful birds. 

 The most important point brought out is the possibility of dividing the 

 family into apparently natural subordinate groups acco-rding to the method 

 of moult of the tail feathers. In the Perdicinse the moult begins with the 

 innermost feathers, whUe in the Phasianinse it begins with the outermost. 

 In Polyplectron, Chalcurus, Argusianus and Rheinardius (Argusianinae of 

 Beebe) it begins with the third pair from the center, and proceeds both 

 ways, while in Pavo (Pavoninaj) it begins with the next to the outermost. 

 This character forces Ithaginis and Tragopan into the Perdicinse which is 

 quite hkely their true position. 



In another recent paper ^ Mr. Beebe describes the development and plum- 

 age changes of the White Ibises basing his studies on the bh-ds in the large 

 flying cage at the New York Zoological Park. In conjunction with Mr. L. S. 

 Crandall ^ he caUs attention to the stiffness in the down feathers representing 

 the tail of young ducks and their persistence on the tips of the juvenal 

 rectrices. This condition is particularly noticeable in the Torrent Ducks 

 of the Andes, Merganetta. Mr. Beebe has also repubUshed ^ with additions 

 an interesting paper on the ' Effect of a Postponed Moult upon the Sequence 

 of Plumage in Certain Passerine Birds,' which appeared in the American 

 Naturalist for 1908.— W. S. 



Chandler on the Feathers of Circus hudsonius-'— In this paper the 

 author describes in great detaU the structure of the feathers of the Marsh 



1 Preliminary Pheasant Studies. By C. William Beebe. Zoologica, Scientific 

 Contributions of the New York Zoological Society, Vol. I. No. 15, pp. 261-285. 



April, 1914. 10..^ 



2 The Ontogeny of the White Ibis. By C. WiUiam Beebe, do., No. 12, pp. 



241-248. February, 1914. .to 



s Specialization of Tail Down in Ducks. By C. Wilham Beebe. and L. S. 

 Crandall, do.. No. 13, pp. 249-252. February, 1914. 



4 Effect of Postponed Moult in Certain Passerine Birds. By C. Wilham Beebe, 

 do.. No. 14, pp. 253-258. February, 1914. , ^ .^ .n irt 



6 Modifications and Adaptations to Function in the Feathers of Circus hud- 

 sonius. By Asa C. Chandler. Univ. of Cal. Publ. in Zool., Vol. 11. No. 13. pp. 

 329-376, pis. 16-20. March 21, 1914. 



