2 24 Recent Liferaiure. [April 



matter, both as regards text and cuts, forms a conspicuous feature of the 

 work, which is thus practically an encyclopedia of ornithology. For those 

 who know Dr. Coues's ability at giving the gist of a bird's history in a few 

 happily worded sentences, it is unnecessary to say that a vast amount of 

 intbrmation is compressed into the space of a few lines. To cite a few illus- 

 trations : About 700 words are devoted to the word Grouse and two cuts, 

 one representing the Scotch Ptarmigan, the other the Dusky Grouse of 

 western North America. The history and etymology of the word occupies 

 about 100 words, followed by a definition of the characters of the sub- 

 family Tetraoninic, with an enumeration of most of the species, under 

 both their English and Latin names, with the principal synonyms of the 

 former. In addition to this about 100 words are given to Boiiasa, with a 

 cut of our Rutfed Grouse ; about the same to Cattace, with a cut of the Can- 

 ada Grouse; about 150 words are given to Ceuirocercus, with a cut of the 

 Sage-Cook; under Deiidraffopus, this term is defined and a cross refer- 

 ence made to Canace; Ptarmigan receives about 200 words, with a cut of 

 the Rock Ptarmigan, while nearly as much more is given under Lagofus 

 with a cross reference to Ptarmigan ; and so on for the other generic groups 

 of the Tetraonina;. This in fact may be taken as a fair illustration of the 

 scope and method of treatment of ornithological subjects, most of the 

 higher groups, including all of the more prominent genera, receiving 

 from 50 to 200 words each, with generally a cut illustrative of some typi- 

 cal species of the group. 



The amount of toil and tact involved in such an undertaking, it is easy 

 to see, is almost beyond estimate, while the utility of such work cannot 

 readily be over-appreciated. That in all parts it is equally good, or wholly 

 beyond criticism, is not to be expected, but a careful examination of the 

 work leaves us with the impression that an endless amount of labor and 

 care has been expended, greatly to the advantage of not only the layman 

 but to the trained specialist, particularly in fields outside of his own prov- 

 ince. As a work of reference 'The Century Dictionary' must for a long 

 time easily lead all competitors, it standing quite alone as regards scope, 

 completeness, and fullness of treatment. — J. A. A. 



Chapman on a Collection of Birds from British Columbia.* — The col- 

 lection, of about a thousand specimens, on which this important paper is 

 based, was made by Mr. Clark P. Streator between April 21 and Nov. 15, 

 18S9, at several places in British Columbia and Washington. F'rom June 

 16 to Sept. 3 he was in the comparatively dry country east of the Coast 

 Range ; the rest of the time he spent on or near the coast. 



The paper opens with a brief description of the localities visited by Mr. 

 Streator, together with a statement of the dates of his stay at each place, 

 and then passes on to a discussion of the climatic regions in which they 



*On a Collection of Birds made by Mr. Clark P. Streator in British Columbia, with 

 Field Notes by the Collector. By Frank M. Chapman.— Bulletin of the American 

 Museum of Natural History, New York City, Vol. Ill, No. I, Article VII. Authors 

 edition issued Oct. 8, 1890. 



