VOl iS VI ] Recent Literature. 95 



published ; to have made this distinction, in the case even of only the rarer 

 species, would of course have considerably increased the size of the book, 

 and for this reason may have been omitted, but the omission is an incon- 

 venience to the worker in search of the historical sequence of records. In 

 brief, Mr. Knight has given us such a good book on the Birds of Maine 

 that we regret to find it not an entirely up-to-date authority on Maine 

 ornithology. — J. A. A. 



Godman's 'Monograph of the Petrels.' — Part III of this excellent Mono- 

 graph l contains descriptions of 29 species, of which 27 are figured. Twenty- 

 three of the species belong to the genus Mstrelata, of which three appear 

 to be known only from the original types. Priofinus gelidus of recent 

 authors (ex Procelaria gelida Gmelin) is apparently referred to Puffinus 

 kuhli, the author recognizing only one species of Priofinus, and correcting 

 the faulty synonymy given by Salvin. 



The species treated in the present Part are many of them little known 

 in life, so that nothing can be said of their habits and distribution. As 

 in the previous Parts of this work, the biographies of the well-known 

 species are given at considerable length, as is the general history. — J. A. A. 



Gadow's 'Through Southern Mexico.' 2 — Dr. Gadow's account of his 

 travels in southern Mexico is not to any great extent ornithological, the 

 reptiles and general character of the country visited being the principal 

 theme. The work is well written and thoroughly interesting from begin- 

 ning to end, the author's style being terse and graphic, and the subjects 

 treated include the physiographic features of the country and their rela- 

 tion to the fauna and flora, its present and former human population, with 

 descriptions of the celebrated ruins of Tepotztlan, Milta, and Monte Alban, 

 a discussion of the ' Toltec question,' the Aztec hieroglyphs, and the calendric 

 system. The author made many excursions to out of the way places 

 reached only by pack trains, his explorations including the low coastlands, 

 the interior plateau, and the Volcanoes of Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl. 

 Interspersed with interesting incidents of travel are discussions of the 

 effect of environment upon animals and plants, colors and patterns, con- 

 vergent development, the struggle for existence, 'warning' colors, and 

 adaptive modifications. The information regarding the general character 

 of the country and its varied inhabitants, human, animal and vegetable, is 

 varied and explicit, and one can hardly turn to a better book for informa- 

 tion regarding southern Mexico. The numerous illustrations relate to a 

 great variety of subjects and are valuable adjuncts to the text. — J. A. A. 



1 Part III, pp. 153-232, plates 1-lxxviii. September, 1908. For notices of 

 previous Parts see Auk, XXV, 1908, pp. 244, 338. 



2 Through Southern | Mexico | being an account of | the travels of a Naturalist | 

 By | Hans Gadow | M. A., Ph.D. | F. R. S. | With over one hundred and sixty full 

 page and other | illustrations and maps | Witherby & Co. | 326 High Holborn Lon- 

 don | 1908 — 8vo, pp. xvi + 527, maps, numerous half-tone plates and text figures. 



