Allen on birds from Quito

38° ^Remit

Literature. [October

aiuhur slatesthat "his

work

hasnoclaimsto becalled a

monograph,

but

issimplya catalogue of speciesand specimens, which it is hoped, how- ever,

may

tendtowardsthe elucidationofa verydifficultsubject by future laborers." Its utility will certainlyprovealmost beyond estimate, even tothose

who may

notbeprepared toagree fully toallof the conclusions presented. In suchobscureanddifficult groupsasare here treated,opin- ion

must

vary on

many

points,being influencedby the

amount

of mate- rial in hand andthe standpoint fromwhich ^itis viewed.

In

comparing

the present

volume

with the 'Nomenclator

Avium

Neo- tropiealium'of Sclaterand Salvin, published in 1S74, itisofinterest to notethatthe

number

of species

now

recognized for the Tracheophonse has increased about twenty-fivepercentinsixteen years, therebeingabout 120 speciesaddedinthe present

volume

that were not included in the 'Nomenclator.'

Of

theseabout₇₅ have beendescribed since the publica- tion of the 'Nomenclator'. while nearly 50 then ignored are

now

given place as probably valid species.

The number

of genera has propor- tionately increased, and about in the

same

ratio as regards the recog- nition of generic groups formerly ignored.

Of

the nearly 90 species referred toonly in foot-notes, probably onehalftotwo thirds willproveto be recognizable forms, while

many

^ofthose

now

registeredasspecies will doubtless take rank eventuallyas merely local racesorsubspecies.

Species described as

new

or re-namedarethefollowing: (1)

Tkamnophi-

lus fmncticeps,p. 212; (2) Myrmotherula inornata (Berlepsch, MS.), p.

243^{i (.?)} Cercomacra hypolcena, p. 2f>S; (4)

Myrmeciza

pelzelni, p. 283;

(5) Grallarianigro-lineata (Berlepsch, MS.), p.321; (6) Liosceles fri- thtens, p. 345.

A new

genus is Thamnocharis(p. 3ro).

As

regards matters of nomenclature,

we

regretto see that the law of priority is not always respected, as when, in several cases, an earlier name, based onthe female sex, is rejected for a later one based

on

the male;orwhen,asinthecase ofFormicariuscayennensisBodd. (p. 302). a

much

used early

name

is rejected, because indicating"a

wrong

locality,"

for an uncurrent latername.

In conclusion

we

cannotdoless than tender hearty thanks,in behalf of ornithologists at large, to the accomplished author of the

volume

under notice for the great service he has rendered in marshalling one ofthe most difficult sub-orders

among

birds intoan orderly array.-—_J, A. A.

Allen

on

Birdsfrom Quito.

— The

collection

upon

which this paper*

is based was

"made

in the immediate vicinityof Quito by

M.

L. Soder- strom,"and

"numbers

210specimens, representing 79species,oneofwhich provedtobe new."

A

^{list is} given ofallthe speciescontained in the col- lection,

many

^of

them

accompanied bycritical remarks havingreference toquestions of

synonymy

or relationship,those thus discussed being as follows^:

—

Notes

on a Collection of Birdsfrom Quito, Ecuador. By J. A. Allen. Bull.

American

Museum

Nat.Hist.,Vol. II,No.2, March,1S89,Art.VI, pp.69-76.

1S90.] Recent Literature.

3^*

Diglossasittoides (Lafr.

&

D'Orb.),differing incertain respects froma Bogota example.

Dacnisegregia cequatorialis Berl., confirming the differenceson which the separationof theEcuadorian from the

Colombian

birdwas based.

Chlorophanes spiza ccerulescens (Cass.), of which C.s. exsul Berl. is said tobea

synonym.

Chlorophanesspizaguatemalensis(Cass.), theskinsso identifiedbeing

"evidently ofadifferent

make

from the others,and are no doubt from a different locality."

Ccereba cairulea (Linn.),said to"agree perfectlywith Bogota

exam-

ples."

Procnias viridis 111., usuallycalled P. tersa (Linn.), apparentlygood reasonsbeinggivenforchangingthe specificname,whileMr.Allen states his inability, "with a large series of specimens"before him, to distin- guisha "smallersubspecies occidentalis."

Habia

ludoviciana (Linn.), from the "foot of Pichincha,alt. 10,000 ft.,"the date unfortunately not given.

Pipra auricapilla Licht.,which differsin several particularsfromthe typical birdof easternBrazil, Cayenne, and Trinidad.

Tityrapersonata Jard. and Selby, reference being

made

to 'The Auk,' Vol. V, iSSS, p. 287.

Tityra nigriceps Allen, firstdescribed in'The Auk,' Vol. V, 1S8S, p.

2S7.

"

Pithysperuvianas (Tacz.),which iseasilyseparable from P. albifrons of

Cayenne

and Brazil.

Galbulaalbirostrischalcocephala (Deville),

"which name may

be

em-

ployedtodesignatethisfairly

marked Andean

and

West

Brazilian race"

of G.albirostris.

Inaddition tothese noteson particularspecies,two generaarespecially considered: Chiromachceris Cabanis (et. aurt.), which

must

be changed to

Manacus

Brisson;and Tityra,of which anexcellent andveryconven- ientkeyto the speciesand subspeciesisgivenon page _73.

—

R.R.

Allen

on

Birds collected in Bolivia.

— With

possibly the exception of Messrs. Sclaterand Salvin's report on Mr. C. Buckley'scollection ofBo- livianbirds,* Mr. Allen's "List ofthe Birds collected in Bolivia by Dr.

H. H. Rusby,"f isby far the most important publicationwhich has ap- pearedon the birdsofthatcountry.

*

On

newSpecies of BolivianBirds. ByP.L. Sclater, M.A.,Ph.D., F.R.S.,and OsbertSalvin, M.A.,F.R.S. Proc.Zool. Soc. Lond. 1876, pp. 352-358,pis. xxx- xxxiffc (Based on acollection of"between400and500skins ofabout 194species,'' 15 ofwhich, and1newgenus, are described ^asnew.)

fListof theBirdscollectedin Boliviaby Dr.H. H.Rusby, withFieldNotesbythe Collector. By_J.A.Allen. Bull.Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol II, No.2, March,1889,

pp.77-112.