I O 2 Recent Literature. | April 



arc referred to P. sub is; all the Central American Mockingbirds except 

 the northern M. polyglottos, which occurs also in Mexico, are referred to 

 the South American M. gilvus, a species which apparently extends no 

 farther north than Guatemala, if, indeed, it occurs beyond Costa Rica, 

 the Mexican forms which have been referred to it being at least sub- 



ipecifically distinct.* The bird called Molothrus ceneus includes two very 

 distinct species, M. ceneus (Wagl.) and M. robustus Cab., but up to the 

 time the 'Biologia' was published the differences between them had not been 

 pointed out.f The Meadowlarks are 'lumped' into one species, Sturnella. 

 magna, notwithstanding two very distinct forms (probably species), 

 ■V. magna mexicana and .S. neglecta, occur in Mexico, besides a third 

 i V liippocrcpis) in Cuba. Under the name Aphclocoma californica. 

 which belongs to a form whose range certainly does not extend into Mex- 

 ico, except as a well-marked subspeciesj in the peninsula of Lower 

 California, are included the A. sumichrasti § and A. cyanotis\\, purely 

 Mexican forms, whose respective ranges are separated from that of 



I. qaltformca by the intrusion of A. wood&ousei, in Arizona. The name 

 Aphclocoma ultra ma rt'ua, even if belonging to either of the forms which 

 are referred to it, also covers, according to the synonymy, three well- 

 marked forms, one of which is undoubtedly specifically distinct from the 

 others. This is the A. couchi, a smaller and much shorter-tailed species 

 than A. sieberii, with whiter under parts, the sides of the head much lighter 

 and brighter blue, and the tail less graduated, found in the Mexican States 

 of Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon ; A. siebc rii of southern Mexico and its 

 much paler and grayer northern race A. s. arizonce being larger every way. 

 with the tail proportionally longer as well as much more rounded, besides 

 differing in the darker under parts and darker and less bluish color of the 

 sides of the head. The two strongly marked forms of Xanthoura are 

 likewise considered identical; yet no one having a series of speci- 

 mens from the Rio Grande Valley and an equal number from Yuca- 

 tan or Guatemala, without specimens from intermediate localities, would 

 think of uniting them under one name. It is true that they inter- 

 grade; but if they did not, we should be justified in considering them dis- 

 tinct species (A", luxuosa and X. guatemalensis) ; recognizing, however, the 

 fad of one extreme grading into the other, through specimens from inter- 

 mediate localities, we should not be justified in thus naming them, a tri- 

 nomial designation for the more recently named form {X. luxuosa guate- 

 malensis) expressing their relationship much better. 



* See 'Proceedings of the United States National Museum,' Vol. V, pp. 10-12; 

 Vol. VIII, p. 562, and Vol. X, p. 506. 



t They were first formally separated, as Callothrus icneus and C. robustus, in the 

 writer's 'Manual of North American Birds' (p. 589), in 1887. 



\ A. c. hypolcuca, 'Manual of North American Birds,' p. 356. 



JHiftory of North American Birds, Vol. II, p. 283; Cat. B. Brit. Mus. Vol. Ill, p. 

 14 ; Man. N. Am. B., p. 356. 



|| Man. N. Am, B., p. 357. 



