^°9o^'^] Recent Literature. 8 1 



ing to Dr. Gadoii, the greater part of the distinctively Hawaiian birds 

 belong to the single family Drepanididse, almost beyond doubt of Amer- 

 ican origin, and find their nearest relationship in the American family 

 Coerebid;e. They were probably the first birds to obtain a foothold in the 

 islands, and later received a few additions from Australia. 



Hawaiian birds apparently do not take kindly to innovations, and pre- 

 fer the virgin forests to the proximity of man. "Unlike many European 

 and American birds, which flourish in the garden and orchard and find 

 comfort and safety in man's protection, none of the island species seem to 

 desire to be on neighborlj' terms with man, or to be capable of adapting 

 themselves to the changes which follow in his wake. For a time they are 

 content to fly over his clearings and to feed in the forest hard by ; but to 

 nest by his door and profit by his bounty seem to be foreign to their wild 

 natures and presently, unable to reconcile themselves to his unwarranted 

 intrusion into their ancient fastnesses, they retreat to the unvexed and vir. 

 gin forest." The destruction of the forests, that has followed the invasion 

 of civilized man, is hemming them into constantly diminishing areas, 

 "and in a few years the opportunity to study the habits of some of the 

 unique bird forms which have been developed upon these islands will be 

 lost forever." Even slight changes in environmental conditions have a 

 marked influence and species "even become extinct when the causes seem 

 wholly inadequate." Mr. Henshaw believes that among the causes of the 

 decline of certain species is "the necessity of continuous inbreeding," and 

 gives his reasons at considerable length for this belief, citing examples in 

 illustration. They are also obviously affected by prolonged storms and 

 slight changes of temperature, and are also subject to diseases, especially 

 by the growth of tumours on the feet, and sometiines about the mouth. 

 These tumours have been found to be of bacillic origin, and are most 

 prevalent on "the windward side of Hawaii, where the annual rainfall is 

 from 130 to iSo inches." Apparently fully one tenth of the species of 

 Hawaiian birds are either extinct or rapidly approaching extinction, or 

 about one sixth of the distinctively Hawaiian forms. 



In referring to the work of Mr. R. C. L. Perkins, who began collecting 

 in 1892, Mr. Henshaw notes that as his large collections contained but 

 one new species, we may consider that the list of Hawaiian birds is prac- 

 tically complete, but the still more important study "of their life histories, 

 of their relations to each other and to the avifauna of other lands," 

 remains as a still more important studj'. To this end the author's 'Birds 

 of the Hawaiian Islands ' is an important contribution, as well as an incen- 

 tive and an aid to future observers. — J. A. A. 



Snodgrass and Heller on the Birds of Clipperton and Cocos Islands.' — 



' Papers from the Hopkins Stanford Galapagos Expedition, 1898-1899. XI. 

 The Birds of Clipperton and Cocos Islands. By Robert Evans Snodgrass 

 and Edmund Heller. Proc. Washington Acad, of Sciences, Vol. IV, pp. 501- 

 520. Sept. 30, 1902. 



