1 58 Recent Liferature. ■ [J"ly 



well as others from the source above mentioned, is a superior piece of 

 ■work, showing the author's progress under more favorable conditions of 

 environment in Washington. The treatment is freer and clearer ; descrip- 

 tion is not confined to the osteology, and comparisons are made outside 

 the family — especially with the Vulturine J^aleom'dce oi' the Old World. 

 Attention is particularly called to the claw of "index" digit in this family. 

 The numerous genera now in vogue, based upon external characters 

 alone, seem to be well supported by osteological features, when, as in the 

 present case, the whole skeleton is passed in review. On the whole it is 

 a careful piece of descriptive work, the value of which is increased by 

 adequate comparisons with related forms ; and which would have been 

 still enhanced had the author concisely formulated the net results of his 

 investigation — giving his work that finish which, for example, confers 

 such clarity upon Garrod's polished productions. — E. C. 



RiDGWAY ON New Species and Subspecies of Birds. — In numerous 

 papers published in the "Proceedings" of the National Museum for 1 881 

 and 1883 Mr. Ridgway has described a considerable number of new 

 species and races of birds and several new genera, chiefly from North and 

 Middle America. They also contain notes on a few other hitherto little 

 known species. The first paper of the series here enumerated * contains 

 descriptions of Troglodytes (?) ochraceus and Acanthidops (gen. nov.) 

 bairdi, both from Volcan de Irazii, Costa Rica; in the second paper are 

 described Ckasienipis sclateri and Cymochorea cryptoleuciira, both from 

 the Sandwich Islands. In the third, Asio fortoricensis is described from 

 Porto Rico, with an analysis of the distinctive characters of this species 

 "and A. accipitrinus and A. galapagoeiisis, together with the synonymy of 

 these forms. In the fourth paper two new subspecies of North American 

 Thrushes are distinguished, namely, Hylocichla fuscescejts salicicola, from 

 Colorado and neighboring Territories, and Hylocichla alicice bicktiellt, 

 from the Catskill Mountains of New York. In the fifth paper Motacilla 



*i. Notes on some Costa Rican Birds. By Robert Ridgway. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 



1881, pp. 333-337. March, 1882. 



2. Description of a new Flycatcher and a supposed new Petrel from the Sandwich 

 Islands. By Robert Ridgway. Ibid., 1881, pp. 337, 338. March 29, 1882. 



3. Description of a new Owl from Porto Rico. By Robert Ridgway. Ibid., 1881, pp. 

 366-371. April 6, 1882. 



4. Description of two new Thrushes from the United States. By Robert Ridgway. 

 Ibid., 1881, pp. 374-379. April 6, 1882. 



5. On two Recent Additions to the North American Bird Fauna, by L. Balding. By 

 Robert Ridgway. Ibid., 1881, pp. 414, 415. April 24, 1882. 



6. Description of several new Races of American Birds. By Robert Ridgway. Ibid., 



1882, pp. 9-15. June 5, 1882. 



7. On the genera Harporhynchus, Cabanis, and Methriopterus, Reichenbach, with a 

 description of a new genus of Miminas. By Robert Ridgway. Ibid., 1882, pp. 43-46. 

 June S, 1882. 



8. Description of some new North American Birds. By Robert Ridgway. Ibid., 

 1882, pp. 343-346. Sept. 5, 1882. 



