Recent Liierattire. 



■95 



gilus formosus (Gould) is the proper name for the smaller and brighter 

 colored species which Messrs. Sclater and Salvin, and others following 

 them, have considered to be the true P gayi.'' 



In addition to the foregoing, Mr. Ridgwaj' has published (n) 'A 

 Review of the Genus Dendrociticla Gray,'* of which 12 species are 

 recognized, three being described as new, namely, D. lafresttayei, D. 

 rufo-olivacea, and D. castanoptera. A key to the species is given, fol- 

 lowed bj the synonymy of each, and critical remarks. 



Ridgway on Wuerdemann's Heron. — Mr. Ridgway gives the results of 

 an examination of eight specimens oi' Ardea w/terdr»tafi»t\f which throw- 

 much light on the character and status of a bird so little known two years 

 ago that it was assigned to the 'Hypothetical' section of the A. O. U. 

 Check-List. After describing each example in detail (one of which "is 

 clearly intermediate between A. ■ivuerdeman7ii and A. %vardi\ and may 

 possibly be a hybrid between the two"), he states that " the characters of 

 A. ■u'uerdemaniii are not only very pronounced but fairly constant," and 

 thus summarizes them: "(i) Head entirely white, excepting (usually) 

 dusky or blackish streaks on forehead or median portion of the crown, 

 but even these sometimes absent. (2) Shoulder-tufts or epaulets broadly 

 striped with white, and with black portions of the feathers sometimes 

 partially replaced by rusty. (3) Lower parts chiefly white, sometimes 

 only the breast being streaked with duskj-. (4) Lowermost middle (and 

 sometimes greater) wing-coverts marked with a median streak of white 

 (this sometimes occupying a considerable portion of the outer web). 

 (5) Outer pair of tail-feathers with a well-defined wedge-shaped mark 

 occupying basal half (approximately) of outer web." He concludes that 

 A Tvuerdemanni "would seem to be a permanent form, however, and, if 

 not a color-phase of .<4. occidentalism is probably a distinct species." — ^J. A. A. 



Ridgway on the Breeding of Trogon ambiguus in Arizona. — Mr. 

 Ridgway describes a specimen of this species, J in first plumage, taken by 

 Lieut. H. C. Benson, U. S. A., in the Huachuca Mountains, Arizona, 

 August 24, 1885. This not only proves the existence of a Trogon in 

 Arizona, but that it breeds there. This is probably the species referred 

 to by Mr. W. E. D. Scott, in 'The Auk' for October, 18S6 (Vol. HL P- 425), 

 as having been reported to him as occurring in the Catalina Mountains. 

 The species is thus now^ positively added to the list of Arizona birds. 

 —J. A. A. 



Stejneger on Japanese Birds. — In describing a new species of Turdiis 

 {T.jonyi^ Dr. Stejneger gives a synopsis§ of the Japanese species of the 



* Ibid., pp. 488-497 (Jan. 6, 1888). 



t Notes on Ardea rinierdemannl. Ibid., 1887, pp. 112-115 (July 2, 1887). 

 \ Trogon ambiguus breeding in Arizona. Ibid., p. 147. 



§ Review of Japanese Birds. By Leonhard Stejneger. IV. Synopsis of the Gcuus 

 Turdus. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1887, pp. 4, 5 (April 25, 1887). 



