106 Recent Literature. 



the Pacific provinces. Each has its own restricted summer habitat, where 

 it alone is found." Of the two Western varieties, plumheus appears to be 

 the best marked, or, in other words, " to be further advanced in the process 

 of differentiation." The measurements given show plumheus to be appre- 

 ciably larger than either cassini or soHtarius. 



Mr. Henshaw here confirms the conclusion he has previously announced 

 respecting the status of certain forms of the genus Zonotrichia, he regard- 

 ing intermedia as a subspecies of gamheli, and the latter as specifically dis- 

 tinct from Z. leucophrt/s. Varieties gaynbeli and intermedia are considered 

 to be, respectively, the dark coast and light interior races of one species, 

 the Z. gambeli of authors. His discussion of the relationships of the Melo- 

 spiza meloda group has already appeared in full in this Bulletin (Vol. IV, 

 pp. 155- 160). In view of the great stress often laid upon differences of 

 habit as diagnostic of specific and varietal forms, his remarks upon this 

 point under Pipilo miculattis megalonyx (p. 300) are well worthy of atten- 

 tion, as expressing the conclusions of an unbiased observer of long experi- 

 ence. After affirming that at best such evidence is " but a precarious 

 means of discrimination, especially between birds closely related," he adds : 

 " Apparent discrepancies in records are by no means always, perhaps, in 

 fact, only in comparatively rare instances, attributable to inaccuracies of 

 observation. But too often the fact is overlooked, or practically ignored, 

 that in birds of the same species, at the same locality, and even at the 

 same time, there may be a very marked diversity of habits, which is an 

 expression of nothing more or less than individual taste or the result of 

 quite adventitious circumstances. Such being the case, it is scarcely to be 

 wondered at that in distant localities, where the observer is ever on the 

 alert for new facts, he should, not infrequently, be misled into false com- 

 parisons by a note new to his experience, or some hitherto unnoticed habit, 

 which, perhaps, had it been marked nearer home, would have attracted 

 but casual attention." 



The status of the so-called Western Fish Crow (Corvus cawinus) is 

 considered at length. After discussing the question in its various bear- 

 ings, testing in detail the supposed evidences of its specific distinctness, 

 he arrives at the conclusion that, while some of the Crows of the Pacific 

 slope differ a little in voice and habits from their Eastern relatives, all of 

 those occurring south of the northern boundary of Washington Territory 

 must be referred to the Common Crow, Corvus americanus. Those occur- 

 ring along the Pacific coast fi-om Puget Sound northward to Alaska are 

 found to be smaller, with a relatively shorter tarsus, than those from more 

 southern localities, and to these Mr. Henshaw proposes to restrict the 

 varietal name caurimis, which was originally based on specimens from 

 Puget Sound and Washington Territory. It therefore follows that the 

 Fish Crow of the Atlantic coast has no representative species on the 

 Pacific slope. 



Of the Jays of the genus Perisoreus, Mr. Henshaw regards Mr. Ridgway's 



