Recent Ornithological Publications. 207 



subscribe at all to the rank assigned to some of the species. 

 Why the Kestrel and Sparrow- Hawk should be placed in the 

 second class as regards beauty of form and colour while the 

 three common English Owls are advanced to the first, or, again, 

 why the song of the Hedge-Sparrow should obtain a '' C" mark 

 while the Redstart comes in for a '^B," are matters that pass 

 our comprehension. On the whole, however, our author does 

 not seem to be a very severe examiner, and we do not perceive 

 that any birds are absolutely " plucked " by him. The most 

 important part of the essay, in a scientific light, consists of the 

 particulars given of the food and geographical distribution of 

 birds outside the British islands ; but here there is much room 

 for improvement. For instance, we imagine that the berries 

 and caterpillars of Iceland do not contribute much to the diet 

 of the Fieldfare in August, simply because the bird does not 

 frequent that island at any time of the year ; and again there 

 is certainly no good reason to suppose [of. Ibis, 1859, p. 421) 

 that the Shore-Lark is common in Algeria. Blemishes like these, 

 together with a more than ordinary crop of typographical errors, 

 may be remedied, however, in a second edition, which we hope 

 the author will have the opportunity of producing. 



We have been in some doubt whether a recent paper by Mr. 

 Swinhoe did not require to be entered under a distinct heading ; 

 but it seemed, on consideration, that the announcement of a 

 "Chinese" publication might have the efi'ect of repelling the 

 attention of our readers, and thei'efore that it would be more 

 expedient to class the paper on the Birds and Beasts of For- 

 mosa*, which that gentleman has recently translated for the 

 Asiatic Society of Shanghai, as an English work. If we are 

 not mistaken, this is the first instance of a Chinese treatise on 

 ornithology being rendered available to the English public, and 

 on that account alone it merits special notice in these pages. 

 It consists, it is true, of little more than a bare catalogue of 



* Neau-Show. Birds and Beasts (of Formosa) from the 18th chapter 

 of the Tai-wan foo-che (Statistics of Taiwan). Translated by Robert 

 Swinhoe, Esq., H.B.M. Consul at Taiwan : with critical notes and obser- 

 vations. Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Shanghai, 1865, pp. 39-52. 



