492 Recently published Ornithological Works. 



forms of American Goatsuckers and Owls. These specimens 

 have been " birds in the flesh, either fresh or alcoholic/^ as 

 the use of skins in such examinations " seems to be of ques- 

 tionable value/^ We are also pleased to see that Mr. Clark 

 adopts the sensible plan of numbering the primaries from 

 the wrist outwards, as advocated by Wray. Specimens of 

 all the four genera of North American Caprimulgidse have 

 been carefully studied, and the result is a valuable piece of 

 work, which shows that Chordeiles stands apart from the 

 other three genera as regards its pterylosis, as it does in 

 other points of its structure. Good illustrative figures are 

 given of the pterylosis of Phalcejioptilus, Antrostomus, Nycti- 

 di'omus, and Chordeiles. 



Of the Striges Mr. Clark has examined nine species, 

 belonging to eight genera. There seems to be no doubt that 

 Micropallas diverges from the other Owls in having only 10 

 rectrices. But Strix, as already stated by Nitzsch, shows the 

 greatest variation from the normal Owl-type. On the whole 

 the author, after comparing in detail the pterylographical cha- 

 racters of the Caprimulgi and Striges, comes to the conclusion 

 that these two groups have a " certain degree of affinity," in 

 which we quite agree with him, although Dr. Bowdler Sharpe 

 has recently stated that this idea " is now scouted.'" We 

 believe, in fact, that the Owls come nearer to the Caprimulgi 

 than to the Accipitres. 



110. Emerson on the Fauna of the Norfolk Broads. 



[Birds, Beasts, and Fishes of the Norfolk Broadland. By P. H. 

 Emerson, B.A., M.B. (Cantab.). Illustrated with Sixty-eight Photographs 

 by T. A. Cotton. Pp. 396. 8vo. London, 1895. David Nutt.] 



Mr. Emerson claims to have passed more than eight years 

 on the Broads, and has made up his mind that the late 

 Mr. Henry Stevenson "did not know intimately the outdoor 

 life of the birds he wrote about from personal observation,"* 

 besides being of an 'inartistic nature." So Mr. Emerson sets 

 him and many others straight ; tells us that Bewick's birds 

 — as birds — are all caricatures; speaks of "the monstrous 



