230 
Recent Literature. 
of all the species noted, however, follows, consisting of a tabular list of 
1 28 species, arranged to show their distribution. We regret to notice that 
Mr. Lawrence omits to further summarize the results of the special cata- 
logues, as well as all discussion of the relationship of the bird-life of these 
islands with each other and with that of contiguous regions, — a subject 
he is so well able to treat. Of the 48 species of Passeres , only five ( Siurus 
ncevius, S. motcicilla , Dendroeca virens , Setophaga ruticilla, Hirundo horreo- 
runri) are migrants from North America, while about the same number 
occur in the contiguous parts of South America. Probably fully three 
fourths of the whole number are restricted to the West Indian Fauna, and 
about one fourth of these, so far as now known, are confined respectively 
to single islands of the Lesser Antilles. Of the seven Humming-birds, 
one only is South American, and the two or three species of Parrots are 
each restricted to single islands. The rest of the species ( Striges to 
Pygopodes , inclusive of both), or nearly one half of the whole, are too 
wide-ranging to afford distinctive data, nearly all occurring in the United 
States, while the greater part are also found in South America. As would 
be expected, the general facies of the bird-fauna of the Lesser Antilles, 
so far as the Land Birds are concerned, — the only proper basis for a 
comparison, — is that of Middle America rather than of South America, 
nearly all of the genera being represented most abundantly in Southern 
Mexico and Central America. Although a large proportion of the genera 
occur also in North America, only Dendroeca, among the resident birds, 
can be considered as distinctively North American, the others having a 
wide distribution in both North and South America. 
As an indication of how little was known of the bird-life of the Lesser 
Antilles prior to Mr. Ober’s visit, and of the importance of the contribu- 
tion to our knowledge of the subject* * made by the joint labors of Messrs. 
Ober and Lawrence, it may be noted that some twenty or more species 
and varieties were first made known from Mr. Ober’s collections. From 
the shortness of Mr. Ober’s stay at most of the points visited, and the 
number of species seen that were not strictly determined, it is evident that 
there is still work here for future explorers. — J. A. A. 
Elliot’s Synopsis of the Trochilid^e. — Few groups of birds are 
more replete with points of interest than the great family of the Trochilidce 
or Humming-Birds, remarkable alike for brilliancy of plumage, variety of 
form, peculiarities of habit, and geographical distribution. While they 
have been the subject of expensively illustrated monographs, and of va- 
Antilles visited by Mr. Fred. A. Ober ; with a Table showing their Distribu- 
tion, and those found in the United States. By George N. Lawrence. Proc. 
U. S. Nat. Mus., Yol. I, pp. 486- 488, May, 1879. 
* For a history of previous contributions to the ornithology of these islands, 
see Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. Bond., 1871, pp. 263 -267. 
