Recent Ornithological Publications. 127 



to each of the groups which compose it, has also been separately 

 published*. The idea is indeed a sufficiently laudable one; for, 

 much as these birds have been studied, scarcely any author has 

 given more than a list of species grouped under a vast number 

 of genera, a great many of which are merely nominal. Mr. 

 Gould, it is true, in his 'Introduction to the Trochilida' {Cf. 

 Ibis, 1863, p. 73), gave characters to the genera which he was 

 the first to introduce ; but there he stopped short, and left un- 

 defined a large number separated by other naturalists, many of 

 which stand upon no firmer ground than the bestowal of a name 

 and the indication of a type. As the authors of the present 

 publication state that it is the precursor of a more extended work 

 on the Humming-birds, we trust they will pardon our pointing 

 out what appear to be several blemishes in it, our only object in 

 so doing being the hope that the forthcoming work may thereby 

 be rendered more perfect. 



We must first of all complain of what seems to us to be an 

 extremely unnecessary innovation proposed by the authors. 

 This is the inversion of the well-known and universally accepted 

 meaning of the words maxilla and mandihula for the upper and 

 lower portions of the bill respectively (p. 8, note 2). His fond- 

 ness for entomological studies, in which he has achieved so great 

 a reputation, has, no doubt, persuaded M. Mulsant to propose 

 this alteration ; but in reality it is very doubtful if there is any 

 analogy, much less any homology, between the laterally-moving 

 jaws of an insect and the vertically-moving mandibles of a bird, 

 though even if sueh were the case it would hardly be sufficient 

 reason for subverting what has been the practice of ornitholo- 

 gists for a century. It is also incumbent upon us, we think, to 

 protest against the principle of changing the spelling of a name 

 without regard being had to its derivation, but merely " pour en 

 adoucir la prononciation,^^ of which we have an example (p. 18, 

 note) in the author^s dropping the "m" from Pygmornis, and 

 thereby entirely perverting the meaning of the term. What 

 would M. Mulsant say if a similar liberty were taken with his 



* Essai d'lme Classification Methodique des Trochilidees ou Oiseaux- 

 Mouches. Par E, Mulsant et Jules Verreaux, Edouard Verreaux. 

 Paris. 8vo, pp. 9S. 



