64 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



to the perfect types of their respective species. It is necessary 

 therefore to retain them as provisional species in the meantime. 

 Mr. Massee's book will prove useful to students of Fungi beyond, 

 as well as within, the British Isles, especially if (as it may be 

 anticipated will be done) an appendix at the close of the work 

 adds species and forms omitted, or that may be published too late 

 for inclusion in their proper situation. 



We observe a note in Vol. III., that the Flora will be concluded 

 in another volume ; but this we venture strongly to doubt, in view 

 of the 'great groups that yet remain to be dealt with. We hope 

 that the author will find himself able to carry his enterprise to a 

 successful conclusion. 



A DICTIONARY OF BIRDS. By Alfred Newton, assisted by Hans 

 Gadow, with contributions from Richard Lydekker, B.A.F.G.S., 

 Charles S. Roy, M.A., F.R.S., and Robert W. Shufeldt, M.D. Parts 

 I. and II. (London: Adam and Charles Black, 1893.) 



Parts I. and II. of the very excellent " Dictionary of Birds " have 

 been issued ; and it is intended by the authors to complete the work 

 in two more parts, and with the concluding portion, an introduction 

 containing a comprehensive account of the rise and progress of 

 ornithology from the earliest period to the time of going to press. 



The series of articles in the present parts are based on Professor 

 Newton's contributions to the Ninth Edition of the Encyclopedia 

 Britannica, but now with larger additions from himself and the 

 others named on the title page, and of those perhaps the most im- 

 portant are the anatomical papers contributed by Dr. Gadow, and 

 for the first time made available in a handy form for students and 

 general readers wishing to acquire a sound and practical knowledge 

 of ornithotomy. 



Of the character of this work it is impossible to speak too highly. 

 We recognise in it a splendid and learned production, the accumu- 

 lated knowledge of a lifetime, representing in a condensed form 

 the available information connected with the most fascinating study 

 of birds ; each separate subject being treated so that, without detract- 

 ing in any degree from its scientific value, it will be found available 

 both for the inquiring student as well as those numerous readers who 

 wish to obtain information on some special point. 



In a short notice like the present it is not easy to point out the 

 chief attractions. The articles by Professor Newton on Eggs, Ex- 

 termination, Geographical Distribution, and Migration, the excellent 

 notices of various family groups, and the exhaustive papers of the 

 other learned contributors, are each admirable in their special fields, 

 display an amount of erudition not to be found elsewhere, and will 

 bear reading again and again. The work should have a place in 

 every good library, and we think also a spare corner in the port- 

 manteau of wandering ornithologists at home and abroad. 



