306 Recent Lileni/m-e. IJulv 



more disliiictlv hancd dark brown ami while. Full !4ro\vn j'oung of the 

 year dark brown, but not so nearly lilack as adults. 



Tv])es, J ad. Collector's No. 4123, Dec. 27, 1S86; $ ad. C<;llector's 

 No. 4127, Jan. 8, 1SS7. 



Haiutat : West Coast of Florida. 



Types in American Museum of Natural History, New York. 

 Collected by VV. E. D. vScott, Tarpon Springs, Fla. Immature 

 birds in National Museum, Washington, taken at Charlotte 

 Harbor, Florida. 



I had intended for this nimibcr of 'The Aid^,' in comiection 

 with this short description of tlie new form, a |)aper on the entire 

 group of large Rails. Although I have had huge series at my 

 command for study, yet the promise of ^till many more iVom 

 various localities, leads me to defer the article for a future 

 nmn'.)er, when it can be more satisfactory. 



RECENT LITERATURE. 



Palmen's Contributions to the Knowledge of the Bird Fauna of the 

 Siberian Coasts of the Arctic Sea.* — The celebrated author of the ' Zug- 

 strasbcii der Voyel ' has yiven us in the work before us one of the most 

 important and comprehensive, not t« say t/ic most imjiortant and com- 

 prehensive treatise on Arctic birds ever written. The public has been 

 impatiently awaiting the publication "of tiie ornithological results of Nor- 

 denskiold's famous expedition (1878-1S79), and tliough long delayed, it 

 is nevertheless highly welcome to the students of northern ornithology. 



The working up of the material could not have fallen into better hands, 

 and we are thankful that the author has not only treated of the species 

 collected, but that he also included those found by others, and particularly 

 that he has given us a special chapter on the distribution of the species 

 within the entire Arctic i)rovince, accompanied by a comprehensive bibli- 

 ography. 



Hitherto we have had no exact knowledge of the birds occurring along 

 the Arctic coasts of Siberia, except a few scattered notes as to the birds 

 inhabiting the extreme west or the extreme east of the territory, and Mid- 



* Bidrag | till kannedomen cm | Sibiriska Ishafskustens fogelfauna | enligt | Ve- 

 ga-e.\peditionens | iakttagelser och samlingar | bearbetade | af | J. A. I'almcn. < Ve- 

 ga-Exped. Vetensk. | lakttag, V, pp. 241-511. (Stockholm, 1887). 



