862 The American Naturalist. [September, 
pressing or dwarfing influence on the brain, or anything to give en- 
couragement to the practice lately adopted in some instances of removal 
of a part of the bony case, with the idea of affording more space and 
freedom for the growth of the brain. In these, as in other cases of man 
and the lower animals, the brain-growth is the determining factor, and 
the skull grows upon and accommodates itself to the brain, whether 
the latter be large or small.” (Nature, 1895.) 
Zoological News, Birds—During the recent visit of Messrs. Brew- 
ster and Chapman to the island of Trinidad, the observations of Mr. 
Chapman on the song habit of the Rachette Hummingbird (Pygmornis 
longuemareus) were confirmed by the discovery of a locality to which the 
birds evidently came to sing. This resort was frequented also by Phae- 
thornis guyi for the same purpose. The latter, while singing, spreads 
the tail feathers to the fullest extent, pointing them forward over the 
back until the tips of the long central feathers nearly touch the back 
of the head. The effect is most striking, the birds suggesting diminu- 
tive turkey-cocks. All the specimens killed at these haunts were males. 
(The Auk, XII, 1895). . 
The family name of Macropterygide is proposed for the Tree-Swifts 
of Malaysia, by Mr. F. A. Lucas, instead of Dendrochelidonidae, which 
is preoccupied. To the differential characters described in a previous 
paper, the author adds the following three important ones; 
Micropodidae. Macropterygidae. 
Hypsotarsus, simply grooved, with an tendinal foramen. 
Shoulder-muscles, strictly Cypseline, Passerine. 
Deep Plantars, strictly Cypseline, characteristic. 
The author states that the differences between the Macropterygidae 
and other Swifts are as great as those existing between any two fami- 
lies of Passerines with which he is acquainted. (The Auk, Vol. XII, 
1895). 
ENTOMOLOGY: 
Chordeumidz or Craspedosomatidz ?—This family of Diplo- 
a has been classified by different authors under the Iulidæ, Poly- 
t Edited by Clarence M. Weed, New Hampshire College, Durham, N. H. 
