Recently published Ornithological Works. 381 
of plumage, including those in moult, which are perhaps 
more needed nowadays than further consignments of birds 
in full dress. 
34. Carriker on the Birds of Costa Rica. 
[An annotated List of the Birds of Costa Rica, including- Cocos Island. 
By M. A. Carriker, Jr. Reprinted from the ‘Annals of the Carnegie 
Museum/ vol. vi. no. 4, August 1910.] 
Our American fellow-workers in Ornithology, having well- 
nigh exhausted the Avifauna of North America, have for 
several years turned their attention to Central America 
and the northern portion of South America, and have done 
excellent work in both these countries. Costa Rica, which 
Mr. Carriker has selected as his special field of study, is, 
perhaps, the most attractive portion of the central neck 
which joins these two portions of the Western Hemisphere. 
Its riches in bird-life are unquestionable. Mr. Camber's 
“ List” contains the names of more than 750 species as met 
with in this little Republic, and it is quite evident, from what 
he tells us, that by far the greater part of its wilds is abso¬ 
lutely unexplored, so that many additions will still be made 
to the series. But it must be recollected that Mr. Carriker 
is a thorough believer in “ subspecies,” and places them 
on an equality with species, which, of course, considerably 
increases the number in his List. Mr. Carriker's u Prefatory 
Note” commences with an interesting physical description 
of the Republic, which is very mountainous and very densely 
wooded. It is naturally separated into two slopes by the 
high central range which divides the waters flowing into the 
Atlantic from those that fall into the Pacific. He then gives 
us some account of the collectors who have visited Costa 
Rica, and a list of the titles of their papers. Nearly all are, 
as would have been expected, Americans, and amongst these 
are Mr. Carriker himself and Mr. Ridgway, the author of 
the great work on the f Birds of North and Middle 
America/ 
Proceeding to the systematic portion of the memoir, we 
find every one of the 753 species and subspecies enumerated 
2d 
SER. IX.-VOL. V. 
