Recent Literature. Ill 



37. Vireo olivaceus (Z/w;/.) Vieill. Red-eyed Vireo.— Common. 



38. Vireo philadelphicus Cass. Philadelphia Vireo.— Taken only 

 at Grand Falls in May, singing in the hard woods. 



39. Vireo solitarius Vieill. Solitary Vireo.— This species was 

 apparently not very common at Fort Fairfield. It was not seen at Grand 

 Falls. Mr. McLeod gives it in his notes as "quite common" at Houlton. 



40. Pyrangra rubra (Z/>/«.) Vieill. Scarlet Tanager.— Not rare in 

 the hard woods at Grand Falls. The people there call them "war-birds." 

 We did not see them at Fort Fairfield, though we have reason to think 

 that they occur. At Houlton Mr. McLeod says they are "rare. They 

 arrive May 29. I have not found the nest, but have a young one taken 

 here. They remain all summer." 



Htccnt letter atun. 



Dr. Coues' New Check List and Dictionary.*^ — Judging from ad- 

 vance sheets lately received, this new treatise by Dr. Coues will occupj' a 

 previously unclaimed place among ornithological works ; for, as its title 

 indicates, it is much more than a catalogue of North- American birds. Its 

 novel feature is a dictionary of etymology, orthography and orthoepy of 

 scientific names, to which is devoted the lower portion of each page of 

 the running list. In this department the generic, specific and varietal 

 names — duplicated from the text above with the addition of the diacritic- 

 al marks for quantities, accents and division of syllables — are exhaust- 

 ively treated; their derivation and meaning being explained, their 

 construction scrutinized, their spelling revised, and their applicability in 

 each particular case carefullj' considered. The erudition and scholarly 

 research involved in this undertaking must be apparent to the most casual 

 reader. The practical value of the work is equally plain, and perhaps it is 

 not too much to say that it calls for a fuller measure of gratitude on the 

 part of ornithologists than anything which its versatile author has 

 hitherto produced. 



A detailed consideration of the Check List proper must necessarily be 

 deferred until the appearance of the complete work; pending this, we may 

 simply say that the plan followed by Dr. Coues is essentially to make a 

 second edition of his original list, with all the required additions and 

 corrections to date, and such revision of nomenclature as seemed desirable 



*The Coues Check List of North American Birds, revised to date and entirely 

 rewritten under direction of the author, with a Dictionary of the Etymology, 

 Orthography and Orthoepy of the scientific names, the Concordance of previous lists, 

 and a Catalogue of his Ornithological Publications. Boston : Estes and Lauriat. 1882. 

 I vol. roy. Bvo. pp. 165. 



