44 Recent Literature. 



ject within the limits of the present paper, for his character is a 

 many-sided one. He is perfectly at home in the tops of the tallest 

 trees where he walks among the twigs with all the ease of a 

 Heron or stands motionless on some horizontal branch with one 

 leg drawn up and the curved bill resting on his breast. These 

 elevated perches are generally resorted to at daybreak. The 

 people told us that when the country was first settled the u Limp- 

 kins," as they are called from their peculiar halting gait, were so 

 tame that they could frequently be caught on their nests, but 

 incessant persecution has had the usual result and the) arc now 

 at all times among the most wary of birds. 



But our morning had passed into noon. The sun poured down 

 its scorching rays, the birds sought a deeper shade among the 

 thickets, and quiet succeeded the former bustle and activity. A 

 distant whistle caused us to hurry back into the river and as we 

 passed out under the vines the steamer appeared around a bend 

 below, puffing desperately as she struggled against the current. 

 At her approach the Coots scurryed off over the lonely pool ; 

 the Osprey hurriedly launched out from her nest and the startled 

 Herons disappeared over the tree-tops. The charm of the place 

 was gone. 



llerent literature. 



Coues's Third Instalment of American Ornithological Bibli- 

 ography.* — The present instalment of Dr. Coues's "American Ornitho- 

 logical Bibliography " is by far the largest of the three, embracing upward 

 of 500 pages, and completes his " Bibliography of Ornithology so far as 

 America is concerned." The first instalment appeared in 1S7S. as an 

 "Appendix" of 21S pages to this author's " Birds of the Colorado Valley" 

 (see this Bulletin. Vol. IV. pp. 56, 57J. and gave the titles of "Faunal Pub- 

 lications" relating to North America. The second instalment (about 100 

 pages) was published September, 1879, ln the " Bulletin of the U. S. 

 Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories" (Vol. V, pp. 239- 

 330), and embraced the titles of "Faunal publications" relating to the 

 rest of America (noticed in this Bulletin. Vol. V, p. 40). The present 



* Third Instalment of American Ornithological Bibliography. By Dr. Elliott Coues, 

 U. S. A. Bull. U. S. Geol. and Geog. Surv. of the Territories, Vol. V, No. 4, 1879, pp. 

 521-1066. Published " Sept. 30, 1880." 



