464 Recently published Ornithological Works. 



forests. Scantily populated and ill cultivated, it may be 

 imagined ^liat attractions such a country must present for 

 resident as -well as migratory birds ; and we need hardly be 

 surprised at finding that, even after admitting many probable 

 visitors the presence of which has not been absolutely proved, 

 the species obtained in this district remote from the sea are 

 no fewer than 273 in number. INIany of the details respectiug 

 their food, habits, migration, and distribution are very inter- 

 esting. It is surprising to learn that Pernis apivorus is a 

 resident, and that its numbers have not been observed to 

 receive accessions on migration ; on the other hand it appears 

 strange that Circaetus gallicus and Milvus ictinus should be 

 rare, while Aquila pennata is as yet unknown, in a district 

 apparently so suitable to all three. Gecinus canus, generally 

 considered rare in France, is said to be comparatively common 

 in the woods on the left bank of the river Creuse ; and the 

 occasional appearance of the Wall Creeper [Tichodroma 

 muraria) at Nantes, on the Loire, is to some extent explained 

 when we read that this striking bird is often obtained on 

 migration in the department of Indre. Among the Warblers 

 which arrive to breed are Cettia cetti and Calamodyta aqua- 

 tica ; and, in a country so suited to their skulking habits, 

 almost all the European Rails are common. No fewer than 

 five species of Terns, including all three of the genus Hydro- 

 chelldon, breed on the etangs; but Sterna anglica has not 

 yet been obtained, even as a straggler. M. Martin is evi- 

 dently a close observer, and, althovigh we know that there 

 are many like him in France, we wish that some of them, for 

 instance, MM. Louis and Etienne Bureau, would follow his 

 example by publishing their experiences. 



104. More's Guide to the Dublin Museum. 



[Science and Art Museum, Dublin, Guide to tlie Natural History De- 

 partment. — Series I. Vertebrate Animals. (Recent.) Part I. Mammals 

 and Birds, by Alexander G. More, F.L.S., M.R.I.A., Cui-ator of the 

 Natural History Department. 8vo. Dublin : 1887.] 



In this well-designed guide, about twenty pages are de- 

 voted to Birds, and contain a wonderful amount of compressed 



