Receid I^iteratiire. 45 



of course be rejected by all who do not consider the membrane and car- 

 tilage bones of the skull to be from the same source. The use of "hjoid 

 arch" when speaking of all the tongue bones is, we think, liable to lead 

 many young students astray; we would suggest "hyobranchial arches," or 

 "hyoid arches." 



A point of considerable interest is a small ossicle which occurs at the 

 inner side of the II metacarpal — III metacarpal of Dr. Shufeldt's homolo- 

 gies of the hand — near its base. This bone is compared to the pisiform 

 bone of the Mammalia by the author. Besides this, two proximal and 

 two distal carpal bones are found, just as in the chick. Thus the chick 

 and the young Cenfrocerciis have the same structure of the hand except 

 the presence of a IV metacarpus in the first and a "pisiform" in the 

 second. We notice that the "index" is described as being composed of 

 only one phalanx; this we believe to be an oversight of the author; at all 

 events most of the European Gallinie have two phalanges, the last one 

 bearing a claw. On reference to fig. 57 it will be seen that the distal end 

 of the first phalanx in Cetitrocerctis is very large and looks as if there 

 should be another joint. As regards the tarsus. Dr. Shufeldt has been 

 able to demonstrate the existence of a fibulare, tibiale, and intermedium, 

 which ultimately become anchylosed with the tibia. Dr. Shufeldt also 

 states that as a whole the different parts of this skeleton in Centrocercus 

 are slow to anchylose, thus rendering the bird an extremely favorable one 

 for the study of the separate elements of the skeleton. 



The description of the osteology of Latiius ludovicianus exctibitorides^* 

 by the same author, is short, concise, and may be summed up in the state- 

 ment that the skeleton of this bird is strictly Passerine. — J. Amory 

 Jeffries. 



Ili.ustrations of Ohio Nests and EcGs.f — We are glad to record 

 the progress of this great work, of which we have had former occasions 

 to speak so highly. The ninth fascicle is the last which has reached us, 

 carrying the number of plates to twenty-seven, each with its sheet or so 

 of letter-press. The high standard of the work is on the whole maintained, 

 although, to our eye at least, the plates lack somewhat of the peculiar 

 attractiveness that the earlier ones had for us. It may, however, be only 

 the charm of novelty that we miss; and there is certainly no falling off in 

 the conscientious endeavor to unite fidelity to nature with artistic excellence 

 in depicting these beautiful objects. Should the project be carried to com- 

 pletion, the work will certainly become a standard of i-eference. It de- 

 serves to be better known and more widely circulated than it appears thus 

 far to have become, and we trust that time will serve to make its merit 

 fully appreciated. 



* Osteology of Lanius ludovicianus excubitorides. By Dr. R. W. Shufeldt, U.S.A. 

 Bull. U. S. Geol. and Geog. Surv. Territories, Vol. VI, No. 2, pp. 351-359, pi. XIV. 



t Illustrations of the Nests and Eggs of the Birds of Ohio. Part VIII, April, i88i' 

 Part IX, July , 1881. Pll. xxii-x.\vii. fol. 



