734 Recently pvhlislied Or^iitliolofjica] IVorks. [Ibis, 



undoubtedly be invaluable to all those oi'nitliologists whom 

 duty or pleasure takes to the burning plains of Irak in the 

 near future. The illustrations are from photographs of 

 characteristic scenery, and among tlie contributors, in 

 addition to the authors, are Sir Percy Cox, Sir 11. Egerton, 

 Capt. C. R. Pitman, Col. F. M. Bailey and Col. H. H. F. 

 Magrath, most of whom are members of the Union. We 

 shall look forward to seeing the paper in its complete form 

 l)efore long. 



Readers should be warned that the separate copies are 

 dated Dec. 30, 1920, and paged 197-237 ; the correct date 

 is Dec. 30, 1921, and the paging as given above. The Editor 

 of the Bombay Journal seems very slipshod in this respect. 



Wetmore on Fossil Birds from Porto Rico. 



[Bird remains from the caves of Porto Rico. By Alexander Wetmore. 

 Bull. Amer. JNliis. N. PI. xlvi. 1922, pp. 297-333, 24 text-iigs.] 



The birds described in the present paper were collected by 

 Mr. H. E. Anthony, chiefly in the cave deposits of tlie island 

 of Porto Rico. Mr. Anthony himself has worked out the 

 numerous mammalian remains and has handed over those of 

 the birds to the present author. The number of species 

 listed is 42, of which 6 have hcen described as new, either 

 in the present paper or previously. Among these is a Cara- 

 cara, Polyhorus latebrosus, a Snipe, GnJIinago anthonyi, a 

 Quail-dove, Oreopeleia larva, a Barn-Ovvl, Tytn cavitica^ 

 while a curious Rail, Nesotrochis dehooyi, and a remarkable 

 Goatsucker, Setochalcis noctithera, have been previously 

 described elsewhere. The presence of the coracoid of a 

 domestic fowl, GaUvs, seems to show that the age, anyhow 

 of some of the deposits, is not precolumbian. Nearly all 

 the remains found are those of tlie smaller birds and 

 mammals, and Mr. Wetmore believes that most of them have 

 come from the pellets of Owls which are partial to caves and 

 caverns. One species, Gynmasio nudipes, is still living on 

 Porto Rico, while the remains of another, Tyto cavitica, 

 suggest that a second species was also responsible i'or these 



