176 



General Notes. 



most is very slight; and its value is further diminished by the fact of 

 Guatemalan specimens having a slight yellowish tinge on the lores, break- 

 ing down the chief point of distinction between Mr. Ridgway's races" {op. 

 cit., p. 135). It is just such intergradations as these which prevent the 

 recognition of these forms as "species" but not as "races," for races are 

 supposed to intergrade, while species are not. It is just this difference 

 that we seek to recognize by the third term in the trinomial system of 

 nomenclature. Races, in their extreme phases, are as certainly recogniz- 

 able as species, and often present wider differences of coloration and size 

 than frequently occurs among closely allied species ; but whereas in the 

 latter we know no connecting links, we expect them to occur between 

 races at points geographically intermediate to the regions where they re- 

 spectively present their greatest degree of differentiation, and to find at 

 such intermediate points more or less difficulty in deciding whether the 

 form there occurring is to be referred to the one phase rather than the 

 other. In respect to the commingling of certain races in Mexico, and the 

 argument based thereon, it is necessary to consider the season of capture 

 of the specimens in question before concluding that because two supposed 

 races have occurred at the same localities they are not, after all, geograph- 

 ically distinct in their breeding habitats. 



Hitherto we have had no general treatise on the birds of the region to 

 which the present work relates, the abundant literature of the subject being 

 widely scattered in special papers or more general works, usually not easy 

 of access, and often inaccessible, to the general student. The importance 

 and usefulness of the present work cannot therefore be easily overestima- 

 ted. A similar work for South America would be a great boon to even 

 the specialist, but it seems almost too much to hope for at present. The 

 execution of the " Biologia," as regards typography and illustrations, it is 

 almost needless to say is excellent, for nothing less would be expected at 

 the hands of its accomplished and enterprising authors. — J. A. A. 



dmeral IT cites. 



Nest and Eggs oe the Painted Flycatcher (Sctophaga picta). — 

 For my knowledge of the nidification of this species, and for the nest and 

 eggs in my collection, I am indebted to Mr. Herbert Brown, who became 

 familiar with the birds while in Arizona. From Mr. Brown's observations 

 it appears that they differ somewhat in their habits from Setophaga 

 ruticilla, as they seldom or never catch insects on the wing, but pick 

 them from the leaves and branches of the trees; one specimen was seen 

 feeding her young with what appeared to be moths and long-legged flies. 

 The nesting-site was on a hillside in a slight depression in the ground. 

 A nest, now before me, was taken from a hole in a road bank, in the Santa 

 Rita Mountains, by Mr. Brown, June 6, 1880. It is loosely constructed of 



