406 Recently published Ornithological Works. 



on-Tweedy by Mr. George Bolam — a valuable supplement to 

 Mr. Muirhead^s ' Birds of Berwickshire.' Mr. A. H. Evans 

 has some notes on the ornithology of West Ross-shire, 

 and Mr. Robert Service a short paper on migration in the 

 Solway district. 



70. ' The Auk.' January & April 1896. 



The first number of our contemporary opens with a 

 sympathetic In Memoriam of G. N. Lawrence, by Mr. D. G. 

 Elliot. Mr. F. M. Chapman gives a plate of Ar delta neoxena, 

 and expresses his opinion that the bird is quite distinct from 

 A. exilis. Mr. O. W. Knight has a paper on Pinicola enu- 

 cleator in captivity, and there are several other contributions 

 respecting this bird since the invasion of 1892-3. Mr. A. 

 W. Anthony describes a Woodpecker belonging to the 

 " harrisi-hyloscopus " group, Dryohates villosus montanus, 

 subsp. nov., from the Uintah Mountains ; and Mr. Gerrit S. 

 Miller, Jun., accords specific rank to Aphelocoma gracilis, 

 from the Sierra Bolaiios, Jalisco, Mexico. A new subspecies 

 of Warbler, Compsothlypis americana usnece, from Lake 

 Umbagog, Maine, and a new Finch, Melospiza fasciata mer- 

 rilli, subsp. n., from Idaho, are described by Mr. W. Brew- 

 ster. It is satisfactory to learn from Mr. G, H. Mackay's 

 report that since the Terns and the Laughing Gulls have 

 been protected on Muskeget Island their numbers have 

 largely increased. 



The coloured frontispiece to the April number illustrates 

 a paper by Mr. W. Palmer on Speotyto floridana, and two 

 woodcuts show the arrangement of the burrows made by this 

 Ground-Owl. Mr. F. A Lucas's article on the " Taxonomic 

 Value of the Tongue in Birds " is, to a great extent, a reply 

 to some criticisms by Dr. J. A. Allen, who coiitributes an 

 editorial rejoinder. Miss Florence A. Merriam, who described 

 the nesting-habits of Phainopepla nitens in the January 

 number, now contributes some interesting notes on the birds 

 observed in San Diego county, California. Mr. Abbott H. 

 Thayer discourses at some length on the law that under- 

 lies protective coloration, which he states to be: — "Animals 



