1 26 Recent Literature. [jan. 



of the species listed. The paper is posthumous, Mr. Ferry having died 

 February 11, 1910, at the beginning of what seemed a promising scientific 

 career (c/. Auk, XXVII, April, 1910, pp. 240, 241).— J. A. A. 



'A Naturalist in the Bahamas.' — A volume with this title, 1 just pub- 

 lished, contains a biographical sketch, by the editor, Professor Henry 

 Fairfield Osborn, and the collected papers of the late Dr. John I. Northrop, 

 who died, full of promise for an eminent career as a scientific investigator 

 and teacher, at the early age of 29 years, June 25, 1891, his death resulting 

 from the accidental explosion of alcohol. Dr. Northrop was interested 

 in a wide range of subjects, including ornithology, and at the time of his 

 death was an Associate of the American Ornithologists' Union. In 1890 

 he, with his wife, visited the Bahamas, where he spent six months in making 

 collections in nearly all branches of natural history. Among the birds 

 he obtained was a new species of Icterus (I. northropi Allen), described and 

 figured in 'The Auk' (Vol. VII, October, 1890, pp. 344-346, pi. i, colored). 

 He made a collection of 75 species of birds on Andros Island, an account 

 of which was published by him, also in this journal (Vol. VIII, 1891, pp. 

 64-80). Besides these papers the present volume contains an account of 

 the flora and a narrative of the Bahama trip by Mrs. Northrop, and a 

 large number of papers by various specialists on the invertebrates col- 

 lected by Dr. Northrop on the Bahama expedition, in addition to papers 

 by Dr. Northrop and Dr. and Mrs. Northrop jointly, on a variety of 

 scientific subjects — geological and botanical as well as zoological. 



In Professor Osborn's appreciative notice of Dr. Northrop he states 

 that the finished and unfinished work he left behind him "gave evidence 

 of acute powers of observation, of painstaking study, and of strict regard 

 for truth in the recording of facts"; and adds that he "had in mind the 

 ultimate publication of a volume on the Bahamas which would embody 

 the results of his work there and of other contemplated trips to the islands." 

 The present memorial volume was planned to carry out this project, so 

 far as possible, and it is hoped that through it "the memory of his labors 

 and activities, brief as they were permitted to be, may live, and the in- 

 fluence of his example be handed down to future generations of the stu- 

 dents of Columbia and of other universities." — J. A. A. 



Cooke's ' Distribution and Migration of North American Shore- 

 birds.' 2 — The 85 recognized forms of Shorebirds (Limicolse) — 76 species 



1 A Naturalist in the | Bahamas | John I. Northrop | October 12, 1861-June 

 25, 1891 | A Memorial Volume | edited with a Biographical Introduction | by 

 Henry Fairfield Osborn i [Seal of Columbia University] New York i The Columbia 

 University Press | 1910 — 8vo, pp. xv + 281, with 37 plates and 9 text figures. 

 The Macmillan Company, 66 Fifth Avenue, New York. $2.50 net. 



2 Distribution and Migration of North American Shorebirds. By Wells W. 

 Cooke, Assistant, Biological Survey. Bulletin No. 35, Biological Survey, U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture. 8vo, pp. 100, with 4 half-tone plates. Washington, 

 Government Printing Office, 1910. Issued October 6. 1910. 



