108 Recent Literature. 



esting addition to the faunal records of the West, ti-eating as it does of a 

 region of which very little is known from actual field work. The list of 

 100 species of birds is the result of less than a month's investigation, 

 — from August 15 onward, — and, as the author states, represents half 

 the number that actually occur there. The notes, though brief, are usually 

 sufficient to indicate the nature of the occurrence of each species, and, as 

 in the greater number of cases they result directly from the author's own 

 observations, they carry with them the value of perfect authenticity. We 

 notice one especially interesting item, viz. the occurrence of the Varied 

 Thrush {Turdii^ ncevius) near Fort Custer, Montana. This is, we believe, 

 the first announcement of the appearance of the species east of the Sierras, 

 except as a pure straggler, such being the nature of the several recorded 

 instances of its presence along the Atlantic coast, in Massachusetts, New 

 Jersey, and on Long Island. From the accompanying remarks, " in num- 

 bers, Aug. 20," it is evident that the record is of more impoi'tance than 

 any of the others, although it seems probable that this too will prove to 

 be an isolated instance of unusual distribution, and that this west coast 

 species is not a regular visitant to this region. The geographical position 

 of the region in question places it entirely outside the confines of the 

 Eastern and within the Middle Province, as is evidenced by the list, 

 which contains the name of not a single exclusively Eastern species. It 

 is to be hoped that an opportunity will be afforded Dr. McChesney for fur- 

 ther investigations upon the zoology of this region, and that Ave may be 

 favored with a full report from his pen upon its ornithology. — H. W. H. 



Brewp:r's Additional Notes on New England Birds. — The last 

 contribution of the late Dr. Brewer to New England ornithology * con- 

 tains notes on some 40 species. It forms a second sujiplenient to his 

 " Catalogue of the Birds of New England," f published in 187.5, and adds 

 five species to the number previously recognized by him as New England 

 birds, raising the whole number to 361. Most of the facts here recorded 

 had already appeared in this Bulletin, contributed partly by the author 

 himself. We note, however, as new, the record (p. 264, second foot-note) 

 of the capture of a third New England specimen of the Blue-gray Gnat- 

 catcher {PoUoptila ccerulea) at Osterville, Cape Cod, September 26, 1879, 

 by Mr. Arthur P. Chadbourne ; also the capture of a specimen of a South 



River and Mountains of Montana Territory. By Charles E. McChesney, 

 U. S. A. Being Appendix S S 3 of the Report of the Chief of Engineers for 

 1879. 



* Some Additional Notes upon Birds observed in New England, with the 

 Names of Five Species not included in his Previous Lists of New England Birds. 

 By T. M. Brewer. Proc. Boston Soc.' Nat. Hist., Vol. XX, pp. 263-277. Pub- 

 lished December, 1879. 



t Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., Vol. XVII, pp. 436-454. For the first sup- 

 plemental list see op. cit., Vol. XIX, pp. 301-309, published April, 1878. 



