318 Recently published Ornithological Works. 



This appears to be a carefully prepared and exhaustive 

 treatise upon the present state of our knowledge o£ the Blue 

 Tits (^Cyanistes) and their distribution and varieties. M. 

 Menzbier divides the group into two sections^ ''brevicaudates^' 

 and "■ longicaudates," with five species in the first^ and two 

 species and one subspecies in the second section. The 

 synonymy, description, and distribution of each species are 

 fully given, and the intermediate forms between Paruspleskei 

 and P. cyanus and P. cyaaus and P.flavipectus are described. 

 The existence of these supposed " hybrids " leads the author 

 into an important disquisition on the effect of crossing upon 

 the extinction of species. 



95. ' Mlttheilungen' of the Ornithological Union of Vienna. 



[Mittheilungen des oi'uithologisclien Vereiues in Wien. 8 Jahrg, 

 nos. 1-12, 1884.] 



Dr. G. V. Hayek's excellent periodical is, as usual, devoted 

 mainly to papers on the birds of " the fatherland " and ad- 

 joining districts and to other kindred subjects. But, as con- 

 tributions of more general interest, we may venture to allude 

 to Prof. Eugen von Boeck's '^ Ornis of the Valley of Cocha- 

 bamba'^; Collett^s " Alca impennis in Norway'^; and Drs, 

 Radde and Von Pelzeln's article upon a collection of birds 

 from the Caucasus (already alluded to). We are not aware 

 that Cochabamba lias been visited by a European naturalist 

 since the valley was trodden by d'Orbigny in 1830. Prof. v. 

 Boeck's list of birds, which has been carefully edited by 

 Dr. W. Blasius, contains the names of eighty-seven s^jccies. 

 Some of these are but approximately determined, and it is 

 to be hoped that Prof. v. Boeck and Dr. Blasius will continue 

 their communications upon this interesting subject. We 

 may remark that Rupicola saturata (sive sanguinolenta) is a 

 subspecies of R. peruviana peculiar to Western Ecuador, and 

 that the Bolivian form is probably not identical. 



96. Newton on Ornithology. 



[Ornithology. By Alfred Newton, M.A., F.R.S., &c. Reprinted from 

 the ' Encyclopajdia Britaunica ' by special permission. For Private Cir- 

 culation. 50 pp. 4to.] 



