172 Mr. P. L. Sclater on new 



it could be distinguished. It has, however, the outer toe 

 aborted in such a peculiar way that it has been made by its 

 describer the type of a new genus. This bird seems to have 

 the same habit of skulking in dense jungle of hill-bamboo 

 that I have observed in Paradoxornis, Heteromorpha, and 

 Suthora. 



" Pnoepyga troglodytoides , Verr., is another curious bird, 

 doubtfully assigned to that genus by its describer, and very 

 different in appearance from any Pnoepyga I have seen. 



'' Many species previously only known from the Himalaya 

 were found in Moupin by M-. David — among them Grandala 

 ccelicolor, Hodgs., Cinclus cashmeriensis, Gould, Lerwa nivi- 

 cola, Hodgs., and Accentor nipalensis, Hodgs., all birds which 

 I have only seen at elevations above 14,000 feet in Sikim. 

 Coupling with this the absence of Barbets, Fruit-Pigeons, 

 Trogons, Hornbills, and the tropical genera of Woodpeckers, 

 all birds which are found as high as 5000 or 6000 feet in 

 Sikim, I conclude that the lowest valleys in this part of Thibet 

 are of a much more alpine nature than in Sikim, and subject 

 in winter to a more severe climate." 



XXI. — New and forthcoming Bird-Books. 

 By the Acting Editor. 



At no previous period, we believe, has so much ornithological 

 work been going on as at the present time. In every branch 

 of our favourite science great activity is now manifested. A 

 few words, therefore, on the leading events of the day may 

 not be unacceptable to such of our readers as live away from 

 the great centres of civilization. 



Commencing with the Palsearctic Region, Mr. Gould's 

 great work on the birds of Great Britain is now complete, 

 and his numerous subscribers are struggling to get their copies 

 bound as quickly as possible. No bird-book, it is whispered, 

 has ever had such a financial success. Every copy of a large 

 edition is either already disposed of, or likely to be so within 

 a very short period, and the work will quickly rise to a pre- 

 mium. Nor is this any matter for wonder, when mc turn over 



