i8 9 3- SOME NEW BOOKS. 393 



Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., vol. viii., and the egg of P. apoda was de- 

 scribed from Aru in the Zeiisch. f. ges. Ornith. for the same year. 



In the brief description of the Guinea Fowls, Numida vultuvina has 

 been included with those species which have " the crown bare of 

 feathers and elevated into a bony ' helmet.' " This is, of course, an 

 oversight, this particular species having no " helmet." 



This part concludes with two extremely interesting articles on 

 Migration and Mimicry. The former is especially fascinating, and 

 brings together a mass of information, for which the general reader 

 should be grateful. 



Dr. Gadow's contributions can in no way be said to play a 

 secondary part in this book. His task is by no means an enviable 

 one, for to render concise and readable articles out of such uncom- 

 promising material as has fallen to his share to mould, is, to say the 

 least, a difficult one ; but, nevertheless, he has succeeded in presenting 

 us with descriptions that are at once singularly clear and undoubtedly 

 correct. We would, however, be allowed to point to the description 

 of the humerus and the four accompanying figures as a slight excep- 

 tion. In the figures referred to — the left humerus of a raven — all the 

 more important points of muscular attachment have been distinctly 

 named, but, in the lowest figure, the crista superior is called crista 

 "lateralis," while in the text " tuberculum superius " should read 

 " tuberculum externum " so as to agree with the figures. So again, 

 "tuberculum inferius " should read "tuberculum medium," for the 

 same reason. 



Now a word as to the illustrations. On every hand, the figures 

 of Swainson have been most eulogistically praised. Fas est dictu — we 

 have seen better. For instance, who would recognise the caricature 

 on p. 401, which is supposed to represent the head of the Guinea 

 Fowl ? or the ? model for an umbrella handle on p. 406 ? which we 

 are asked to believe is the head of Scopus. To our mind, the figures 

 on pp. 388, and 508-10 are far-and-away more life-like and beautiful. 

 Some of Swainson's figures undoubtedly are good, such as that of the 

 head of the Hawfinch, but these are the exception, and not the rule. 

 The elegant figures of the Heron, Jabiru, and Merlin are almost 

 beyond praise, but these are not Swainson's. 



Figures of bills and feet come prominently to the fore in this book ; 

 doubtless they have their value, but they are by no means so 

 important as the prominence given them would lead the lay mind to 

 believe. In the case of unfamiliar forms, such as the Guan, we 

 venture to think they are of no use whatever ; here, not even the 

 entire head is given, but only the beak. The amateur must indeed 

 have a vivid imagination if he would conjure up the remainder of 

 the bird ! 



We wish it to be distinctly understood that these remarks are 

 offered, not in any spirit of captious criticism, but, as suggestions 

 which might be acted upon in a second edition, which, we feel sure, 

 will be called for. 



We will conclude as we began, by reiterating that this book 

 undoubtedly fills a gap, and it is hardly likely to be supplanted 

 by any similar work for a long time to come. W. P. P. 



The Zoological Record for 1892. Edited by D. Sharp, F.R.S. 8vo. Pp. 926. 

 London: Zoological Society, 1893. 



It is no exaggeration to say that the Zoological Record is the most 

 important zoological publication in existence. The absence of this 



