A JO Recent Literature. [October 



mostly to distribution and habits, with occasionally descriptions of bill 

 feet, iris, etc., from fresh specimens, and of plumage, with frequently ex- 

 planations and comment on the native names, and notes on the uses of 

 the birds made by the natives. The remarks on the breeding habits of many 

 of the species contain much that is new and important. The colored 

 plates, drawn by Messrs. Robert and John L. Ridgway, add greatly to the 

 interest of the work. The species figured, some of them for the first 

 time, are the following: (i) Whiskered Auklet (^Simorhytichus pygniceus ; 

 (2) Kittlitz's Guillemot {^Brachyramfhus kittlitzii ; (3) Turner's Ptar- 

 migan {Lagoptis rupestris aikhetisis, $ and ?); (4) Lapp Owl {Ulula 

 cinerea lapponica); (5) Hawk Owl {Siirnia nliila); (6) White-winged 

 Crossbill {Loxia leiicoptera, juv., first plumage); (7) Cassin's Bullfinch 

 {Pyrrfiula cassi'ni); (8) Aleutian Leucosticte (Leucosti'cte griseimicha^; 

 (9) Swinhoe's Wagtail {Motacilla ocularis); (10) Meadow Pipit {Antkus 

 cervittus); (11) Alaskan Wren {Troglodytes alascensis); (12) Siberian 

 Chickadee {Pariis cinctus obtectns); (13) Hudsonian Chickadee {Parus 

 hudsonicus) . 



Although the report was transmitted for publication in 1882, in nomen- 

 clature and other technical points it appears to have been brought down 

 to the date of printing (1886) given on the title page, the nomenclature 

 and classification of the A. O. U. Check-List* having been adopted for 

 the birds. Obligations for assistance and facilities in the preparation of 

 this part of the report are made to Mr. R. Ridgway, Dr. L. Stejneger, and 

 the late Professor Baird. 



In closing this notice of Mr. Turner's important contribution to North 

 American ornithology, it gives us pleasure to announce that other belated 

 reports on ornithological work done under the auspices of the U. S. Signal 

 Servce Bureau may yet be expected, the volume before us announcing as 

 -" in course of preparation" a ' Report upon Natural History Collections 

 made in Alaska in 1887-1881,' by Mr. E. W. Nelson; a ' Report of the 

 Expedition to Lady Franklin Bay,' by Lieut, (now Gen.) A. W. Greely ; 

 and a ' Report of Observations made in Ungava and Labrador,' by Mr. L. 

 M. Turner, author of the Report now under notice. While it is to be re- 

 gretted that these reports become so largely shorn of their freshness and 

 interest by these long delays in making them public, it is gratifying to 

 know that the work of these intrepid explorers is not to be wholly lost to 

 science. — ^J. A. A. 



Sharpe's Catalogue of the Family Fringillidae.f — In a thick volume 



*The numbering of the ' Check-List ' is also preserved. On this point we beg to 

 suggest that a continuous serial numbering would in all similar cases be preferable^ 

 since it shows at a glance, and without the labor of counting, the number of species 

 treated, while the statement that the A. O. U. nomenclature is followed renders the 

 use of the A. O. U. numbers superfluous. 



t Catalogue | of the | Passeriformes, | or | Perching Birds, in the | Collection | of the 

 I British Museum. | — | Fringilliformes: Part III. | Containing the Family | Fringil- 

 lidae. | By | R. Bowdler Sharpe. | London : | Printed by order of the Trustees. | 1888. 

 8vo. pp. XV -|- 871, pll. xvi. Forming Vol. XII of Catalogue of the Birds in the British 

 Museum.' 



