Vol. XX J Recent Literature. 322 



of 28 species, and there are many excellent full-length text cuts of addi- 

 tional species. The book will have much interest as a popular account 

 of a very attractive group of birds, and will be, of course, of special value 

 to avicultnralists. — J. A. A. 



Shufeldt on the Osteology of the Steganopodes.' — - In a quarto memoir 

 of over one hundred pages, illustrated with numerous text figures and 

 ten half-tone plates. Dr. Shufeldt here presents at length the results of 

 his studies of the osteology and relationships of the Steganopodes. He 

 first summarizes the classifications proposed for the group by previous 

 authors and their views as to the relationships of the several types com- 

 posing the group, and then proceeds to a detailed comparative description 

 of the osteology of Pha'cthon., Sula. Anhinga^ Pkalacrocorax, Pelecanns, 

 and Fregata. He closes with some remarks on the classification of the 

 several types composing the order, which he divides into three super- 

 families (Pelecanoidea, Phaethontoidea, Fregatoidea), the first embracing 

 the families Pelecanidte, Phalacrocoracids, Anhingida-, and Sulida-, the 

 others comprising each a single family, consisting respectively of the 

 genera Pha'etkon and Fregata. Of the other families, each is also mono- 

 typic, as regards genera, except Phalacrocoracida, to which are referred 

 the two gene.r& P/ialacrocor ax and Nannoptermn. His arrangement thus 

 agrees with Dr. Stejneger's, proposed in 1S82, and followed in the A. O. 

 U. Check-List— J. A. A. 



Shufeldt on the Classification of Certain Groups of Birds. ^ ■ — The groups 

 are the ' superorders' Archornithiformes (consisting oi ArchcBOpteryx^., the 

 Dromseognathse (comprising the Ostriches, Rheas, Emues, and Casso- 

 waries, and the extinct Moas and the Roc {ySpyoruis), and the Odonto- 

 holcffi (the extinct Hesperornithidae and ^naliornithidie. Extended 

 quotations are given from Huxley, Forbes, the Parkers (W. K. and T. 

 J.), Marsh, and others, from which sources a summary of the structural 

 characters of the diverse members composing these groups is here pre- 

 sented. The superorder Archornithiformes equals the 'subclass ' Saururse 

 of many recent authors ; the superorder Dromaeognathte includes all 

 the existing and extinct struthionine birds, and is divided into five 'sub- 

 orders ', as follows : Struthiornithes, Rheornithes, Casuariornithes, Din- 

 ornithes, and ^^pyornithes. Each of these is treated at considerable 

 length, their differential characters noted, and those of their constituent 



' The Osteology of the Steganopodes. By R. W. Shufeldt, M. D. Mem- 

 oirs of the Carnegie Museum. Vol. I, No. 3, 1903, pp. 109-223. pll. xxi-xxx, 

 and 37 text figures. 



2 On the Classification of Certain Groups of Birds. (Superorders: Arch- 

 ornithiformes; Dromaeognathas ; Odontoholcse). By R. W. Shufeldt. Amer- 

 Nat., Vol. XXX Vn, Jan., 1903, pp. 33-64, and 2 half-tone plates. 



