86 
Recent Literature. 
2. Never mention the less common species, without stating date and lo- 
cality of capture, and name of collector. 
3. Always give the authority for all statements which you are not per- 
sonally responsible for. 
4. Never trust to the identification (much less mere opinion ) of an inex- 
perienced collector, but make it a rule to see for yourself, and fully iden- 
tify each species. If the slightest doubt remains concerning the identity 
of a bird, it is far better to send it at once to some acknowledged authority 
than run the risk of error. — C. H. M. 
Barrows’s “Catalogue of the Alcid^e.” — Of the twenty-one species 
of Alcidce recognized by Mr. Barrows,* nine appear to be unrepresented in 
the Society’s collection ; of the remaining twelve short original descriptions 
are given, sufficiently detailed for the easy recognition of the species. Mr. 
Barrows does not think the family can be subdivided into groups of a 
higher than generic value. The true affinities of the species he believes 
can only be determined by a thorough study of their embryological devel- 
opment. The character of this paper indicates that in Mr. Barrows we 
have a valuable accession to our corps of ornithological students. — J. A. A. 
Feilden’s “List of Birds observed in Smith Sound,” etc.f — In 
this list Captain Feilden, R. A., enumerates twenty-four species observed 
by the recent British Arctic Expedition “ in Smith Sound and northward, 
between the seventy-eighth and eighty-third degrees of north latitude,” 
all of which are well-known Arctic forms. The land birds are Falco can- 
dicans, Nyctea scandiaca, Plectrophanes nivalis, Gorvus corax, and Lagopus 
ru'pestris. The waders embrace Strepsilas interpres, JEgialitis hiaticula, 
Calidris armaria, Phalaropus fulicaria, and Tringa canuta. The swim- 
ming birds include Sterna macrura, Pagophila eburnea, Pissa tridactyla, 
Larus glaucas, Stercorarius longicaudatus, Procellaria glacialis, Uria grylle, 
Mergulus alle, Alca bruennichi, Colymbus (septentrionalis ?), Harelda glacia- 
lis, Somateria mollissima, S. spectabilis, and Bernicla brenta. Most of 
them were repeatedly met with at different localities, some of them in 
considerable numbers, and many were observed breeding. The quite de- 
tailed notes respecting the species of this list render it a paper of unusual 
interest. — J. A. A. 
* Catalogue of the Alcidse contained in Museum of the Boston Society of 
Natural History, with a review and proposed classification of the Family. By 
W. B. Barrows. Proc.. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., Vol. XIX, pp. 150-165, No- 
vember, 1877. 
t List of Birds observed in Smith Sound, and in the Polar Basin during the 
Arctic Expedition of 1875 -76. By H. W. Feilden. Ibis, Fourth Series, Vol. 
I, pp. 401 - 412, October, 1877. 
