504 Recently pub/is/ied Oriiithological Works. 



many of the l)locks said to be by that well-known engraver. 

 These will doubtless help the uninitiated reader to some extent 

 to make out the species ; but where no cuts are given, such per- 

 sons will have some difFculty in recognizing the birds they see. 

 Mr. Ilarting's notes give the chief outlines of the distribution 

 of each species ; and throughout the work references are freely 

 given to aid those who Avould look further into this subject. 

 On the whole ]Mr. Harting's remarks concerning the affinities 

 of the different species appear to us to be sound ; but there 

 are a few to which we would take exception. The association 

 of the Swifts and Swallows in one family^ Hirundinida, 

 though one of old standing, has been, we think, successfully 

 called in question of late years. To say that the peculiarities 

 of the Swifts as compared with the SwalloAVS are rightly ex- 

 pressed by placing the former in the genus Cypselus, and the 

 latter in Hii'undo, falls far short of giving the proper value to 

 the real differences between these birds, similar as they are 

 in oiitward appearance. A family, Cypsclidae, to contain the 

 Swifts, is at least conceded by all good systematists ; and we 

 think that they are best placed in an order, Macrochires, 

 separate from the Passeres, to which the Hirundinidce un- 

 doubtedly belong. 



Then, again, Mr. Harting, after detailing many of the pecu- 

 liar external features of the Wryneck, gives his opinion that it 

 is best placed as a connecting link between the Woodpeckers 

 and the Cuckoos. He lays far too great stress upon the form 

 of the tail, forgetting that the Picumni of the Old and New 

 Worlds have soft tails destitute of the pointed shafts of the 

 true Woodpeckers. We believe that the genus Yunx must 

 be associated with the Pici, and noAvhere else. 



Several pages are devoted to the habits of the Cuckoo ; and 

 theories advanced res]3ecting the reproduction of this bird are 

 gone into. Mr. Harting has some difficulty in accepting 

 Professor Newton^s explanation of the mode in Avhich an here- 

 ditary tendency is acquired by the Cuckoo to seek the nests 

 of certain birds wherein to deposit its egg. His difficulty 

 lies in his expecting too much from the words '' successfully 

 deposited." All that seems to be required by a Cuckoo to 



