232 Recent Literature. \jitk\ 



L April 



RECENT LITERATURE. 



Ridgway's ' Manual of North American Birds,' Second Edition.' — Mr. 

 Ridgwaj's excellent ' Manual,' originailj published in 18S7 (see review 

 in Auk, IV, 1887, pp. 333-336), is so well known to the readers of this 

 journal that little more is necessary in the present connection than to call 

 attention to the points wherein the second edition differs from the first. 

 Since the appearance of the first edition, as we learn from the new Preface, 

 " 91 species and subspecies have been added to the North American 

 fauna"; of these 12 were included in the analytical 'keys' of the first 

 edition, " and it has been necessary in these cases only to change the 

 typography of the names and prefix the catalogue number of the Ameri- 

 can Ornithologists' Union ' Check List of North American Birds.' The 

 remainder are given in regular order in the Appendix (pages 583-614), 

 marginal reference numbers in the body of the work at once directing 

 attention to the supplementary matter." We have thus a new Preface 

 (pp. iii-vi), giving explicit directions for using the ' kej's,' and an 

 Appendix of 32 pages of mostly new matter. All typographical errors 

 thus far detected have been corrected, but otherwise than as above 

 indicated the main body of the work remains unchanged. 



The Appendix, besides adding some 80 species and subspecies not 

 given in the preceding pages, includes a number of eliminations, and many 

 modifications of and additions to the original text. Thus, in respect to 

 Ardea iviierdemanni, we have the following (p. 586) : " A. tvuerdematun 

 is probably an intermediate plumage connecting A. occidentalis with A. 

 -ivardt\ the three forms [being] doubtless merely color-phases of one 

 species, for which A. occidentalism is the older name." Under the genus 

 Fulmarus Mr. Ridgway states that lie believes the " subspecies of F. 

 glacialis are probably reducible to two, an Atlantic and a Pacific form. . . 

 It is possible that had we good series of specimens from all the breeding 

 localities of the species, the above mentioned supposed forms [minor, 

 glupischa, cohimba, etc.] could be clearly defined; but I have very 

 serious doubts whether their validity can be demonstrated otherwise." 

 The additions include two new genera — Arremonops, type Embernagra 

 rufivirgata Lawr., and Oreospiza, type Friugilla chloriira Aud. — and 

 one new subspecies, namely, Cardinalis cardinalis Jioridanus {^. 606). 

 Audubon's Fringilla tnacgillivrayi is revived as Ammodratnns mari- 

 timtis macgillivrayi (p. 602), with habitat "Coast of Louisiana; coast 

 of Texas (Corpus Christi) during migration." There are also several 

 corrections of names, Sula gossi^KA^y^. becoming (p. 584) Stila nebouxii 



' A I Manual | of | North American Birds. ] By | Robert Ridgway. | — | 

 Illustrated by 464 outline drawings of the generic characters. | — | Second 

 Edition, | Philadelphia: ) P. B. Lippincott Company. | 1896. — Royal 8vo , 

 pp. i-xiii, 1-653, pU. i-cxxiv, and frontispiece, portrait of Prof. Baird. 



