V0l iS VI ] Recent Literature. 319 



While the membership roll, giving as it does the date of election, the date 

 of death of deceased members, the date of resignations, etc., has the strong 

 element of personal interest that always attaches to such a record, the 

 biographies and portraits have permanent value as a concise history of a 

 large number of the leading British ornithologists, many of whom have 

 finished their work and left an enviable record. 



The Jubilee Meeting of the British Ornithologists' Union is further note- 

 worthy as the occasion of the initiation of a plan proposed by Mr. Ogilvie- 

 Grant for the exploration of the Charles Louis Mountains in Dutch New 

 Guinea, which are believed to rise to an altitude of from 16,500 to 17,500 

 feet, and to constitute at the present time "beyond doubt the finest un- 

 known ground in the world." It is Mr. Grant's desire to associate this 

 undertaking with the British Ornithologists' Union, "so that it may be 

 known as the 'British Ornithologists' Union Jubilee Exploration of the 

 Charles Louis Mountains'." The proposition, when put to vote, received 

 unanimous approval, and a Committee was appointed to cooperate with 

 Mr. Grant in securing the necessary funds for the enterprise. — J. A. A. 



Thayer and Bangs on the Birds of Guadaloupe Island. 1 — Guadaloupe 

 Island is situated off the coast of Lower California, about 220 miles south- 

 west of San Diego. Practically nothing was known of its fauna till 1875, 

 when it was visited by the well-known collector Dr. Edward Palmer. He 

 obtained eight species of land birds, represented by 72 specimens. On 

 investigation of this material Mr. Ridgway 2 found that while each species 

 had a near relative on the mainland, the Guadaloupe forms were so far 

 differentiated from them in each case as to warrant their recognition as 

 distinct species. These differences consisted in the increased size of the 

 bill and feet, shorter wings and tail, and darker colors in the island forms, 

 due to insular environment. The island has since been repeatedly visited 

 by ornithologists, including W. E. Bryant 3 in 1885, who increased the 

 number of species known from the island from 9 to 36, all land birds except 

 4, but adding none to the 8 previously described as peculiar to the island. 

 Mr. Bryant, however, gave for the first time a detailed account of the 

 topography, climate, and vegetation. 



In the spring of 1906, Mr. W. W. Brown, Jr., with two assistants, visited 

 the island in the interest of Messrs. Thayer and Bangs, and the present 

 paper gives the results of Mr. Brown's work. Reference is made to the 



1 The present state of the Ornis of Guadaloupe Island. By John E. Thayer 

 and Outram Bangs. Condor, Vol. X, No. 3, May-June, 1908, pp. 101-106. 



2 Ornithology of Guadaloupe Island. By Robert Ridgway. Bull. U. S. Geol. 

 and Geogr. Surv. Terr., Vol. II, No. 2, April, 1876, pp. 183-195. 



The Birds of Guadaloupe Island, discussed with reference to the Present Genesis 

 of the Species. By Robert Ridgway. Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, Vol. II, No. 3, July, 

 1877, pp. 58-66. 



3 Additions to the Ornithology of Guadaloupe Island. By Walter E. Bryant. 

 Bull. California Acad. Sci., No. 6, pp. 269-318, Jan., 1887. 



