Recently published Ornithological Works. 563 



98. Capellini on an Egg of TEpyoriiis. 



[Sul primo uovo di ^pyornis maxlmus arrivato iu Italia. Memoria 

 del Prof. Giovanni Capellini. Bologna. 1889. Pp. 22.] 



This memoir (separate copy of one in the Mem. R. Ace. 

 Sc. Inst, di Bologna, ser. iv. vol. x.) contains an account of 

 an egg of jEpyornis procured from Southern Madagascar 

 for the writer by Dr. E. Pelagaud, of Lyons. The egg 

 measures m. O'SOO by m. 0-220. Its contents were examined, 

 but the examination did not lead to any very definite re- 

 sultSj except that the egg had probably contained an embryo. 



99. Chapman on the Species of Quiscalus. 



[A Preliminary Study of the Grackles of the Subgenus Quiscalus. By 

 Frank M. Chapman. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. iv. p. 1.] 



Mr. Chapman has collected, through the assistance of his 

 fellow-workers on N. American birds, a series of 800 speci- 

 mens of the Grakles of the subgenus Quiscalus, with the 

 laudable object of solving the vexata qu(Estio of the limits of 

 the species and subspecies of this difficult group. His con- 

 clusions are (1) that Q. (eneus, which ranges from Canada 

 to the Rio Grande, only varies in coloration in the '^ limited 

 part of its habitat adjoining the area of Q. quiscala, with 

 which it completely intergrades " ; (2) that Q. quiscala 

 assumes three phases of coloration, the first of which reaches 

 its extreme development (commonly called Q. quiscala agheus) 

 at the southern limit of the bird's range (where the third 

 phase is unknown) ; while the third phase occurs at its 

 northern limit, where the first is unknown, and the second 

 phase (connecting the first and the third) is most abundant 

 at the centre of the range, where, however, the other two 

 phases also occur. Mr. Chapman is of opinion that we have 

 here a case of two distinct species, the intergradation of which 

 is due to hybridization where their habitats adjoin. For the 

 reasons why he adopts this view instead of the more obvious 

 one of the imperfect segregation of two representative forms 

 we must refer our readers to his paper. 



