172 Recently published Ornithological Works. [Ibis, 
America/ which will be of great help to the beginner, 
in fact, the book is essentially a popular one in the best 
sense of the word, and is just such a one as should be placed 
in the bands of any newcomer with ornithological tastes 
arriving in Canada. 
The second publication has already been mentioned in our 
notice of the ‘Auk/ in which it was published. The third 
paper gives directions and useful hints for the construction 
and fixing-up of nesting-boxes, especially for the Purple 
Martin (Brogue subis ), for which a very elaborate construction 
resembling a pigeon-house is often built in America. The 
last paper deals with the avifauna of Shoal Lake, situated 
about 35 miles from Winnipeg, a favourite resort of many 
different kinds of jvater-birds and ducks which breed there 
in considerable numbers. 
Todd on new Colombian Birds. 
[Descriptions of apparently new Colombian Birds. By ~W. E. Clyde 
Todd. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, vol. 32, 1919, pp. 113-118.] 
Nineteen new forms are characterized, all with one 
exception obtained by Mr. M. A. Carriker, jr., in different 
parts of Colombia. The list of these will be found in the 
‘ Zoological Record/ and it does not seem worth while 
repeating them here. It would appear that the ornithological 
riches of the northern portion of the South American 
continent are even yet unexhausted, so constant is the 
stream of new species and subspecies still being described. 
Townsend and Wetmore on Pacific Island Birds. 
[Reports on the scientific results of the expedition to the tropical 
Pacific in charge of Alexander Agassiz, on the U.S. Fish Commission 
steamer ‘Albatross’ from August 1899 to March 1900, Commander 
Jefferson E. Moser, U.S.N., commanding. XXI. The Birds. By Charles 
Haskins Townsend and Alexander Wetmore. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. 
Cambridge, Mass., lxiii. 1919, pp. 151-225.] 
The voyage of the ‘AlbatrossMn the winter of 1899-1900, 
under the direction of the late Air. Alexander Agassiz, was 
made for the purpose of studying the formation of coral-reefs 
