REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 681 
well determined as Dr. Biichner seems to think. On the other 
hand he does not seem acquainted with the discovery of the human 
skull under Table Mountain in California, though these remains 
are probably more ancient than any human relics yet found in 
Europe. 
Otherwise the work is a good digest of the leading facts and 
arguments on the scientific topics of which he treats, which the 
ordinary reader will not find in any available work. 
The translation certainly does not gloss over the literary crudi- 
ties of the original, while the book abounds in gross typographical 
~ blunders, 
Tue Birps or tHe Tres Maras anp Socorro Istanps..*—The 
Tres Marias form a group of several small, heavily wooded islands, 
situated off the Mexican coast, opposite the port of San Blas and 
about one hundred miles distant from that point. Socorro, the larg- 
est of the Revillagigedo group, is a barren volcanic island wbich 
Tises abruptly to the height of two thousand feet, about three hun- 
dred and fifty miles southwest of the Tres Marias, and about the 
same distance from the Mexican coast. From their small size and 
their distance from the mainland, the fauna of these islands presents 
features of more than usual interest. Under the auspices of the 
Smithsonian Institution and the Boston Society of Natural His- 
tory, Col. Grayson made several voyages to these islands for the 
purpose of exploring their natural history. In the present paper 
_ We have some of the results of Col. Grayson’s labor, prepared from 
__ his notes and collections by Mr. George N. Lawrence. The paper 
Contains copious and valuable notes respecting most of the species 
mentioned, with quite a full account of the physical characteristics 
of the islands. The Tres Marias list embraces fifty-two species, 
Collected by Col. Grayson in 1865, 1866 and 1867. In general 
character the avian fauna of these islands closely resembles that 
of the adjoining main, though several strongly marked insular 
‘Taces are easily recognized, and is hence decidedly tropical. The 
only northern United States species recorded are such as have a 
Wide range of distribution or are semitropical, the majority being 
tial birds. But one aquatic species (the sooty tern) is given, 
- *0On the Physical Geography and Natural History of the Islands of the Tres orn 
oT , off the western Coast of Mexico. By Col. Andrew J. Grayson. l pena 
‘ ge Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist. Vol. xiv, pp. 261-303. EN 
871). 
(Read June Ta 
