,3q^ I Recent Literature. 2 85 



Pedioccvtcs. Apart from this minor point, the femur of this 

 hybrid fills the ideal place in a series of three that otherwise 

 insensibly intergrade in all particulars. 



This completes my account of the few bones that I have of the 

 skeleton of this very interesting specimen, and in conclusion it 

 but remains for me to thank, as I here do, Mr. Brewster for his 

 kindness in having placed them at my disposal for description. 

 It is fortunate that the specimen fell into such excellent hands, 

 for we fear that with many others the fate of the body would 

 have been quite different. I refer to that thoughtless class of 

 ornithologists who seem to think that their science begins and ends 

 when they have "shot a bird, skinned it, and then thrown away 

 the characters." This is the first hybrid of this kind that has 

 ever come under my observation, but I am inclined to believe 

 that others, more or less like it, will be met with in the future. 

 Were it possible to domesticate these two genera of Grouse, I 

 believe they would frequently cross under such conditions, and 

 very likely the vast majority of the eggs would prove to be fertile. 



RECENT LITERATURE. 



Ornithology of the Death Valley Expedition. — Part II 1 of the report 

 on the Death Valley Expedition, organized and carried on under author- 

 ity of the U. S. Department of Agriculture in 1S91 by Dr. C. Hart 

 Merriam, Chief of the Division of Ornithology and Mammalogy, is pub- 

 lished in advance of Part I, and consists of eight special reports, as fol- 

 lows : (1) Report on Birds, by A. K. Fisher, M. D. ; (2) Report on Rep- 

 tiles and Batrachians, by Leonhard Stejneger; (3) Report on Fishes, by 

 Charles II. Gilbert, Ph. D. ; (4) Report on Insects, by C. V. Riley, Ph. D ; 

 (5) Report on Mollusks, by R. E. C. Stearns, Ph. D. ; (6) Report on 

 Desert Trees and Shrubs, by C. Hart Merriam, M. D. ; (7) Report on 

 Desert Cactuses and Yuccas, by C. Hart Merriam, M. D. ; (S) List of 



1 The Death Valley Expedition, a Biological Survey of parts of California, Nevada, 

 Arizona, and Utah. Part II.=North American Fauna, No. 7, pp. 402, pll. xiv, 

 frontispiece, two cuts in text, and 5 maps. U. S. Department of Agriculture, Divi- 

 sion of Ornithology and Mammalogy. Washington, 1893. (Published May 31, 

 1893O 



