108 Recently published Ornithological Works. 



25. Milne-Edwards on the Fauna of the Antarctic Regions. 



[Recberches sur la Faime des Regions Australes. Par M. Alph. Milne- 

 Edwards. Paris: 1879-82.] 



We have to thank the author for a complete copy of this 

 important memoir^ which^ although finished two years ago, 

 has not yet been noticed in this Journal. We will therefore 

 give a short account of its contents. M. Milne-Edwards 

 commences by a disquisition on the great question of the 

 origin of species, into which we will not follow him, although 

 we quite appreciate his distinction between " especes primor- 

 diales " and "■ especes derivees." After some preliminary re- 

 marks on the geography, the flora, and the general character 

 of the fauna of the Antarctic lands, M. Milne-Edwards 

 proceeds to discuss specially the Antarctic birds. These 

 are treated under the heads of Penguins, Albatrosses, Skuas, 

 Gulls and Terns, Petrels, Sheathbills, Cormorants, Grebes, 

 and Ducks, after which the few land-birds known to inhabit 

 the Antarctic islands are spoken of. Among the Penguins 

 two new genera {Megadijptes for Pygosceles antipodum and 

 Microdyptes for Eudyptula serresiana, Oust.) are instituted, 

 and a new species of Eudyptes [E. albigidaris), from Mac- 

 quarie Island, is described. A new species of Gannet from 

 the Pacific coast of South America is described as Sula 

 nebouxi. Figures are given of the heads of various forms of 

 Eudyptes, as also entire figures of Eudyptes albigularis, Mi- 

 crodyptes serresiana, Sula dactylatra, and S. nebouai, and six 

 charts showing the distribution of the various groups of 

 birds in the Antarctic regions are added. 



But while we fully appreciate the value of M. Milne- 

 Edwards's memoir and the amount of information collected in 

 it, it must not be supposed that we fully agree with all his 

 statements. We must conclude that there is no specimen of 

 the Emperor Penguin in the Paris Museum, or our author 

 could never have said that this species and the King Penguin 

 " ne different que fort peu Vun de V autre'' ; nor do we believe 

 that Spheniscns demersus of the Cape also occurs in the 

 Falkland Islands, or that our author is correct in his dictum 



