1922.] Recently published Ornithological Works. 309 



he believes that tlie very curious bill is not used to collect 

 insects when skimming along the surface of the water, 

 but he does not bring- forward any novel explanation of 

 the use of this curiously shaped organ. 



Among papers dealing Avith exotic avifaunas, Mr. E. L. 

 Poole writes on the birds he observed when in France 

 during his service there in 1918, Mr. W. R. Allen on 

 the conditions of bird-life on Lake Poopo in Bolivia, south 

 of Titicaca, Mr. Kirke Swann describes a collection of 

 Accipitrine birds from Venezuela and proposes a new 

 subspecies of Heterospizias, and Mr. Kuroda sends descrip- 

 tions of seven new^ subspecies of Japanese Woodpeckers. 

 Messrs. Miller and Griscom review the races of Ortalis 

 vetula from Mexico and Central America and propose to 

 recognize several new races, and Mr. J. L. Peters does the 

 same foi- the West India species of Holoqniscalus. 



Dr. L. B. Bishop believes that the Loon, or as we call it 

 the Great Northern Diver, of the interior and western 

 portions of North America can be distinguished by its 

 slightly smaller size from the typical race. He proposes 

 to call it Gavia (Colt/mbus of our nomenclature) hnmtr 

 elasson. The wings of the breeding males of the new race 

 average 354 mm. against 388 mm. for the typical one. 



Mr. Chapin has made a curious discovery that the inner 

 primaries of nestling Woodpeckers are very much abbre- 

 viated, and make a sort of gap in the wing when spread out; 

 these short quills are replaced by quills of normal length at 

 the early post-juvenal moult. In some cases one, in other 

 cases two, are affected, while in one or two genera examined 

 (Sphyrapicus) the phenomenon did not occur. The only 

 explanation suggested is that it may enable young birds 

 brought up in a confiued nesting-hole while being fed by 

 their parents to raise their heads through one another's 

 wings ; a curious photograph of young Flickers being fed 

 at the nesting-hole illustrating the account, seems to 

 confirm this. 



From Mr. L. M. Loomis is an article on the trans- 

 equatorial migration of Petrels, and from Mr. F. C. Lincoln 



SER. XI. VOL. IV. '2 15 



