Recently 2)uhUshed Ornifholoyical Works. 515 



present collection of abont 150 specimens, collected by Prof. 

 L. Munsterhjehm aurl now in the Museum of Comparative 

 Zoolojij at Cambridge, Mass., does not add very much to 

 our knowledge, though lists such as these are always inter- 

 esting, especially when as here tlie specimens are accurately 

 dated. No new species are described. 



The second paper contains a description of Melospiza 

 melodia acadica, subsp. n., from Nova Scotia, and, though 

 published, in 1914, is not to be found in the ' Record ' for 

 that year, probably owing to the fact that the periodical in 

 which it is published is not to be found in any of the 

 zoological libraries in London. 



Wetmore on Porto Rico Birds. 



[Birds of Porto Eico. By Alex. Wetmore, Assistant Biologist, U.S. 

 Dept. Agr. Bull. no. 326, 1916, pp. 1-140, 8 pis., 1 map.] 



This paper was prepared by Mr. Wetmore as a result of 

 the investigations made by him on behalf of the Biological 

 Survey at Washington, and chiefly from an economic point 

 of view. The field-work in Porto Rico covered the entire 

 island, and continued for about nine mouths from Dec. 1911 

 to Sept. 1912. 



Mr. Wetmore finds Porto Rico very poor in bird-life as 

 regards the number of species, both as compared with Cuha 

 and Jamaica, and even more so as compared with corre- 

 sponding latitudes in Mexico and Central America. He 

 estimates the total number of species and subspecies at 1G2, 

 of which 94 breed on the island and 25 are peculiar to it. 



Porto Rico is a highly cultivated island, the low-lying 

 coast-lands being given up chiefly to sugar-cane, and the 

 elevated interior being planted with coffee and citrus-groves; 

 tliese three crops have all their special insect-pests, and. it is 

 the object of this paper to show which birds are most useful 

 in destroying the pests. Among these the Martin ete {Buto- 

 rides v. cubamis), the Falcon [Falco s, loquacula), the Clerigo 

 [Tolmarcus taylori), and the Mozambique {^Holoquiscalus 

 brachypterus) appear to be the most efficient. 



The introduction is followed by a list of all the birds 



