450 Recent Literature. [£ u t k 



that place. This theoiy of Mr. Brown's of rapid exhaustion from sud- 

 den withdrawal of food seems worthy of consideration and may seem, in 

 part at least, to explain these rather mysterious occurrences. — Thomas S. 

 Roberts, Minneapolis, Minn. 



RECENT LITERATURE. 



Ridgway's 'The Birds of North and Middle America,' Part IV. 1 — Part 



IV of this great work, issued in July of the present year, marks the com- 

 pletion of the first half, carrying the subject through the Oscines and 

 including the first four families of the Mesomyodi. The first four Parts 

 contains, as stated in the Preface, "1,675 species and subspecies, or some- 

 what more than half the total number of North and Middle American 

 Birds." 2 



The present volume includes ten families, as follows: Turdidse, with 12 

 genera, 54 species and 43 additional subspecies; Zeledoniidse, monotypic 

 (included in the Turdidse in the main text and raised to family rank in the 

 addenda, p. 885); Mimidse, 12 genera, 33 species and 17 additional sub- 

 species; Sturnidse, including the common Starling, introduced from 

 Europe; Ploceidse, 2 genera and 2 species, introduced into Porto Rica 

 from Africa; Alaudidse, 2 genera, — Alauda, of casual occurrence in Green- 

 land and the Bermudas, and Otocoris, with one species and 25 subspecies; 

 Oxyruncidse, monotypic; Tyrannidse, 47 genera, 133 species and 39 addi- 

 tional subspecies; Pipridae, 7 genera, 15 species and 2 additional sub- 

 species; Cotingidse, 18 genera, 32 species and 18 additional subspecies. 

 In addition to the 103 genera and 417 species and subspecies formally 

 treated, nearly half as many more are included in the keys and footnotes, 

 so that in many cases nearly all the extralimital South American species 

 of the included genera are passed in review. 



Most of the innovations in classification were first made in a special 



1 The Birds | of | North and Middle American: | A Descriptive Catalogue | of the | 

 Higher Groups, Genera, Species, and Subspecies of Birds [ known to occur in North 

 America, from the | Arctic Lands to the Isthmus of Panama, | the West Indies and 

 other Islands | of the Caribbean Sea, and the | Galapagos Archipelago. | By | Robert 

 Ridgway | Curator, Division of Birds. | — | Part IV. | 



Family Turdidse — Thrushes. Family Alaudidse — Larks. | 



Family Zeledoniidse — Wren- Thrushes. Family Oxyruncidse — Sharp-bills. | 

 Family Mimidse — Mockingbirds. Family Tyrannidse — Tyrant Flycatchers. 



Family Sturnidse — Starlings. Family Pipridse — Manakins. I 



Family Ploceidse — Weaver Birds. Family Cotingidse — Cotingas. | — | 



Washington: | Government Printing Office. | 1907.= Bulletin of the United 

 States National Museum, No. 50, Part IV.— 8vo, pp. i-xxii 4- 1-973, pll. i-xxxiv. 



2 For notices of previous Parts in this Journal, see Vol. XIX, Jan. 1902, pp. 97-102; 

 Part II, Vol. XX, Jan. 1903, pp. 73-76; Part III, Vol. XXII, April, 1905, pp. 219- 

 222. 



