114 Recent Literature. [j^ 



Spix'and Martius were the first explorers to bring to European museums 

 any considerable number of specimens from the Amazon region and the 

 northeastern States of Brazil; in southeastern Brazil they were preceded 

 by Prince Wied, and Spix's names for many supposed new species were 

 forestalled by those of other authors. Spix also designated many other 

 species by new names which had been previously described, through his 

 inattention to the literature of the subject. 



In his introductory remarks Hellmayr directs attention to the fact that 

 the plates (hand-colored) in Spix's work differ greatly in the coloring in 

 different copies — a fault sadly not limited to the Spix bird plates! 



The Spix-Martius expedition specimens of birds were mounted, accord- 

 ing to the custom of that time, and thus have suffered for some seventy 

 years from the fading influence of light, while some have become moth- 

 eaten; the original labels have in many cases been lost, but fortunately 

 the specimens proved in most such cases to be identifiable by the catalogue 

 records. The Spix specimens have now, except in the case of some of the 

 larger species, been unmounted, carefully labeled, and merged with the 

 skin collection of the Munich Museum. It is to be regretted that Spix 

 failed to record, either in his 'Avium Species Novae' or on his labels, the 

 exact locality where his specimens were taken, the records, in many cases 

 simply giving ' Brasilia ' as the place of capture. 



The revision of the Spix material, our author states, occupied him the 

 greater part of two years, and in its identification he did not limit himself 

 to the resources of the Munich Museum but made direct comparison with 

 the necessary specimens in various other European museums, especially 

 with those in the rich collection of Count Berlepsch, to whom he makes 

 acknowledgment for valued assistance in his work. Thus the 'Revision' 

 has been made with exceptional care. Although entitled a 'Revision of 

 Spix's Types of Brazilian Birds,' it is much more than this, as it includes 

 not only the actual types of Spix's new species, but all of the known 

 extant specimens of birds of the Spix-Martius Expedition; and not only 

 this, it includes incidentally the revision of many obscure groups of South 

 American birds, and much critical comment on questions of nomenclature 

 and synonymy, which must prove of advantage to future workers in the 

 same field. Incidentally, also, quite a number of species and subspecies 

 are characterized as new or receive new names. The memoir closes with 

 a valuable concordance, showing the proper modern equivalents of all of 

 the birds included in Spix's work, as interpreted by Dr. Hellmayr. — 

 J. A. A. 



Thayer and Bangs on Sonoran Birds. — This is mainly a nominal list ' 

 of the breeding birds of the Sierra de Antonez, in north central Sonora — 

 a region previously little known. The principal localities are Opodepe, at 



1 Breeding Birds of the Sierra de Antonez, North Central Sonora. By John E. 

 Thayer and Outram Bangs. Proc. Biol. Soc. of Washington, Vol XIX, pp. 17-22, 

 Feb. 26, 1906. 



