72 Recent OrnitJwlogical Publications. 



51. Anas perspicillata, L. 



52. Anas stelleri. Pall. 



53. Thalassidroma leachii, Temm. 



&c. &c. 



Thus we see that birds from very different regions, including 

 the north and south of Europe, the whole north of Asia and North 

 America, choose this lonely rocky island as a place of rest during 

 their migrations. Whatever may be the value of the occurrence 

 of these isolated foreigners as regards the European fauna, the 

 fact that they are met vvitli here is, at all events, undeniable. 



XI. — Recent Ornitkolugical Publicatiuns. 



1. English Publications. 



The completion of Mr. Gould's ' Monograph of the Trochilidse*' 

 is an event in the history of ornithology which a journal devoted 

 to that science cannot pass over in silence. In the first place, 

 we must sincerely congratulate the author on his accomplisliment 

 of so great an undertaking. Any general connected account, 

 even a mere synopsis, of a group of natural objects embracing 

 over 400 species is, in these days, a task of no small labour ; 

 but when the subject selected is one of such difficulty and so 

 little previously understood as that of the Humming-birds, the 

 amount of hard work involved in it is something of which few 

 people, unless personally acquainted with the facts of the case, 

 can form any idea. It is true that we must still consider the 

 ' Birds of Australia ' to be, on the whole, the most remarkable 

 of the magnificent series of works for which the name of John 

 Gould must ever remain famous in the annals of our science. 

 The special journey to the Antipodes, undertaken for the collec- 

 tion of materials, the number and importance of the new forms 

 and new facts thus brought to light, and the complete novelty 

 of the whole subject rendered the ' Birds of Australia ' one of 

 the most extraordinary works ever produced by the unassisted 

 efforts of a private individual. But as an account of a single 



* A Monograph of the Trochihda; or Humming-birds. By John Gouhl, 

 F.R.S., &c. London, 18f!l. 5 vols. imp. foho. 



