382 Rccenthj published OrnJtIioloyical Works. 



Avium a comparatively easy task^ and wo arc not surprised 

 that ornitliologists on the Continent sliould be inclined to 

 avail themselves of the assistance thus rendered to them by 

 British energy, nor do we regret it ; for every enterprise 

 that tends to render tlie study of our branch of science 

 more easy and popular will always, if well carried out, 

 receive the support of tiiis Journal and of the Union to which 

 it belongs. 



M. Dubois commences his work with the Psittaci, Scan- 

 sores, and Pici, and his task is considerably lightened, 

 as nearly all the families of these groups have been mono- 

 graphed, and the species are tolerably well known. Besides 

 the name adopted^ only the principal synonyms and the 

 patria are given. The '' subspecies " are designated " varie- 

 ties '' : a practice Avhich is not commendable, as the latter 

 term would be better restricted to individual variations of 

 form and colour. Altogether 1105 species of 180 genera 

 are comprised in the first Fasciculus. This contains 80 ])p. 

 and a coloured plate of Tiga borneonensis, w^liich seems 

 scarcely different from T. Javanensis. The work will be 

 completed in " about 7 numbers,'^ to appear every quarter. 



38. Evans and Buckley un the Shetland Islands. 



[A Vertebrate Faiina of the Shetland Islands. By Arthur 11. Evans 

 and T. E. Buckley. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1899.] 



This is the first of the series in which the name of 

 Mr. Harvie-Brown does not appear on the title-page ; but 

 the influence of our hard-working colleague is plainly seen 

 in the accounts of many outlying islets and skerries which 

 he visited in his yacht, as well as in particulars respecting 

 the southern portion of Mainland, a district almost unknown 

 to the ornithologist. To his companion, Mr. Norrie, the 

 Avork is indebted for the numerous photographs which em- 

 bellish its pages, and the frontispiece — a nesting-place of the 

 Kittiwake — by Mr. Oswin Lee, is an admirable example of 

 mezzotint. Since 1887 Mr. Evans has been systematically 

 exploring the islands of the group, aided by iNIr. Buckley, 

 Mr. Godfrey, and others; and for thoroughly careful work 



