412 Recent Ornithological Publications. 



the New World, is another point which our readers can deter- 

 mine ; for they know that American examples of all the birds so 

 termed by the earlier naturalists are now regarded by the best 

 authorities as distinct from our own representative species with 

 which they had been confounded. In conclusion let us say that 

 we entirely agree with Mr. Newman in regarding a great num- 

 ber of the species he includes " as not having the slightest claim 

 to the title of British birds/' and have much pleasure in backing 

 his opinion that " the time seems to have arrived when the con- 

 scientious compiler must eliminate all these interlopers." 



We have received the ' Proceedings ' of the Asiatic Society of 

 Bengal for 1865, separately from the 'Journal' of that Society, 

 which again is now published in two distinct parts — one of them 

 being devoted to Literary, Philological, Historical, and Numis- 

 matic subjects, the other to Natural History and Physical Science. 

 Some donations of bird-skins are.mentioned; but the only descrip- 

 tion is from the pen of Lieut. -Col. Robt. C. Tytler, who brings to 

 notice what he considers to be a new species of Spizaetus from 

 the Andaman Islands, which he terms S. andamanensis. It is sub- 

 crested like S. limnactus, " but is in every respect a much smaller 

 bird. Length from 23 to 24 inches ; wing 12 in.; tail 9 in. ; 

 tarsus Sg in." " I found a great many of this species," remarks 

 Col. Tytler, " on the branches of mangrove trees in swampy 

 ground ; and, judging from the few observations I could make 

 of them in such unfavourable ground, I should say that their 

 food consists of fish and other sea-animals, for I found portions 

 of undigested fish, crabs, &c, in the birds which I shot. They 

 were by no means timid ; on the contrary, they allowed them- 

 selves to be approached within twenty or thirty yards without 

 showing the least alarm " (p. 112). Skins of Carpodacus rliodo- 

 chrous were presented by Dr. F. Stoliczka, " from Losus in Spiti, 

 at the height of 14,000 ft. above the level of the sea; and of a 

 new species of Procarduelis from the Parang Pass at a height of 

 18,500ft. above the level of the sea" (p. 39). Mr. Simpson pre- 

 sented the skin of a Peacock, " supposed to be a new local va- 

 riety" (p. 11). Nothing more is said of it, or of whence it 

 came ; but Dr. Sclater's supposed new species, Pavo nigripennis, 



