AVES. 
59 
and Middle America. Washington: 1866. Koyal 8vo/ 
pp. 321-450. 
The portion of this work which appeared in 1866 comprises 
the Vireonid( 2 j Ampelidce, and Laniidm. These families are 
treated in the same minute manner as the others, of which we 
have spoken in our two preceding volumes (Zool. Record, i. 
p. 55, ii. p. 79) ; but a new and very remarkable feature is in- 
troduced by the au thorns giving outline figures of the bills, feet, 
wings, and tails of many of the species ; and as these illustrations 
are printed with the text, after the manner of woodcuts, they 
are most convenient for reference. The new species described 
(five in number) are noticed in the special part of this ^ Record,^ 
under the names of the families above mentioned. 
. The Distribution and Migrations of North American 
Birds. Am. Journ. Sc. and Arts, xli. (Jan., March, and 
May, 1866). 
A very admirable p>aper, but one of which it is not easy to 
give an abstract in a small space. To the six great regions 
originally traced out by Mr. Sclater, and adopted in this 
^ Record,^ the author adds a seventh, the West-lndian, which he 
separates from the Neotropical, on account of the large propor- 
tion of genera peculiar to that Archipelago. The ornithological 
provinces of North America consist of two great divisions meet- 
ing about long. 100° W., the western of which, divisible again 
into two, arc more closely related to each other than to the eastern. 
These three great provinces he terms the Western, Middle, and 
Eastern, and they are those (1) of the Pacific slope, (2) of the Rocky 
Mountains and the adjacent plains, and (3) of the fertile plains 
and country generally east of the Missouri. A northern, or sub- 
arctic, fauna mixes with and melts into the three, extending far to 
the south (even into Mexico) along the Rocky Mountains. The 
Middle and Eastern provinces have each a southern subdivision. 
Northward the Eastern province extends more and more westward 
across the Rocky Mountains towards the Yukon. — The winter 
quarters of the North- American birds are next considered. 
Comparatively few species visit the West Indies; a much larger 
proportion reach Mexico and Guatemala; but the greatest 
number seem to crowd into Florida, Georgia, and other southern 
States. The variation of species according to locality is then 
noticed. This is especially to be remarked in their size — the more 
northern individuals being the larger, the more southern the 
smaller. This difference is as strongly marked in species con- 
stantly resident as in those which migrate over great distances ; 
and the development extends to all parts of the body. Lat. 40° 
N. may be assumed as an average line on either side of which 
this variation is very evident. Several of the birds also of the 
Middle and Western provinces have longer tails than the same 
