228 Recent Ornithological Publications. 



of GeofFi'oy St. Hilaire himself, who^ being sent out for that 

 express object, packed up and trans{)orted to Paris everything 

 deemed Avorthy of being added to the galleries of the Musee 

 d'Histoire Naturelle in the Jardin des Plantes. Nor was any 

 recompense awarded for this act of spoliation until quite recently, 

 when, in 1859, mainly, we believe, through the exertions of S. 

 Barbosa du Bocage himself, a series of duplicate specimens was 

 obtained from the authorities of the Jardin des Plantes, which, to 

 some extent, replaced what the unfortunate Portuguese lost in 

 1808. After an outline of the history of the museum since its 

 establishment, our author proceeds to give full instructions how 

 such of his countrymen as are willing may best assist him in 

 the efforts he is now making to restore their national museum 

 to its former preeminence, by collecting and remitting examples 

 of animals of all classes. A list of the principal desiderata of 

 the museum is then given, and finally a catalogue of the birds 

 of Portugal, to which a few notes on some of the species is added. 

 Prom this part of the publication, which mainly concerns our- 

 selves, there is not much, we confess, to be gathered ; but we trust 

 that it may only be the precursor of a more extended work on 

 the oi'nithology of Portugal. Such a publication would greatly 

 add to our knowledge of the laws of distribution of European 

 species and their varieties — a most interesting subject; which is, 

 as yet, still in its infancy. 



5. American Publications. 



Besides a new part of Mr. Elliotts monograph of the Pitta, 

 several ornithological pamphlets have reached us from the other 

 side of the Atlantic since we last addressed our readers. 



From Boston we have a " Catalogue of the Birds found in the 

 vicinity of Calais, Maine, and about the islands at the mouth of 

 the Bay of Fundy," which has been published in the ' Proceed- 

 ings of the Boston Society of Natural History^ for September 

 last. This list was drawn up by Mr. George A, Boardman, but 

 has been '^ rewritten in a systematic form,^' and communicated 

 to the Society, by Mr. A. E. Verril. Little more than the names 

 of the species (according to Baird^s nomenclature), and the 

 period of the year at which they occur, is given. 



