416 Recent Ornithological Publications. 



in small compass the gist, and, if we are not mistaken, something 

 more, of M. Malherbe's mighty monograph of the same group, 

 will therefore necessarily commend itself to our readers. We 

 need scarcely say to those who are acquainted with the author's 

 previous works that this one also is most admirably executed. 

 We beg leave to say, however, that we do not entirely agree with 

 some of his prefatory remarks. He considers generic subdivisions 

 entirely a matter of convenience ; and so far we are at one ; but 

 how convenience is consulted by retaining all the known Wood- 

 peckers, of which he enumerates 254, besides some two dozen 

 uncertain or spurious species, in one genus we do not quite see. 

 It is obvious (so it appears to us) that this plan would eventually 

 tend to overthrow the binomial system of nomenclature ; for in 

 practice writers would begin to use in an irregular way the names 

 of established sections in order to indicate the group to which 

 belonged any particular species they might happen to mention. 

 At the same time we must characterize the splitting up that the 

 Woodpeckers have lately suffered at the hands of some who have 

 treated of them as most unnecessary, and recommend moderation 

 in the adopting of genera. For the rest, we have to tender our 

 best thanks to the learned author of this little book for the 

 welcome aid it gives to the lovers of a most interesting family of 

 birds. 



5. American. 



Among the many favours we owe to Professor Baird, the receipt 

 of a separately printed copy of a paper of his, recently published 

 in the ' American Journal of Sciences and Arts,' is certainly not 

 one of the least. The subject is " The Distribution and Migra- 

 tions of North American Birds ; " and so interesting are its con- 

 tents, that we must endeavour to reproduce it in our own pages 

 as soon as space will allow. Meanwhile we may say, for the 

 benefit of those of our readers who can gain access to ^the jour- 

 nal in which it appears, that it will be found in the January, 

 March, and May numbers of Volume XLI. for the present year ; 

 and we are exceedingly glad to learn that the investigations 

 on which the present lists and generalizations are founded are 

 being still carried on by Professor Baird and others in the hope of 

 imparting much greater precision to the knowledge of the subject. 



