794 Recently published Ornitholngical Works. 



rather dangerous proceediug for one wlio is working so far 

 from the larger museums and libraries ; for it is certainly 

 necessary to consult these if the claims ot* forms to be 

 adjudicated as subspecies or species is to be satisfactorily 

 determined. As, however, he gives references to Oates 

 and Jilanford^s 'Fauna of British India,' it is easy to identify 

 any species mentioned. 



On four plates are reproduced photographs of the typical 

 scenery of the districts treated of, and a good map is given 

 drawn by Mr. Stevens himself, to whom we may well give 

 our congratulations on having completed so useful a bit 

 of work. 



Stuart Baker on the Silver Pheasant. 



[A lievision of the Genus Gennaus. 'By E. C. Stuart Baker, F.Z.S,, 

 F.L.S., M.B.O.U. Jouru. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. xxiii. 1915, pp. 658- 

 689, 3 pis., 2 maps.] 



One of the most difficult and confusing genera of birds 

 at the present time is that containing the Kalij and Silver 

 Pheasants, whose range extends from Kashmir to Formosa 

 and Hainan. It is among the forms of Silver Pheasant 

 found in Burma and the adjoining districts that the greatest 

 amount of variation seems to occur, audit was here that the 

 late Mr. E. W. Oates found material for the recognition of 

 no less than 36 distinct species. 



Mr. Stuart-Baker has now gone very carefully tlirough 

 the extensive collections in the British Museum, and in the 

 present paper gives us a very thorough resume of the results 

 of this examination. He recognises eight species only and 

 an additional eight subspecies, and in addition to keys, 

 synonymy, and description, he relegates the very niimerous 

 forms described by Oates, the types of which are all in the 

 British Museum, to their proper places. 



The Pheasants of this genus naturally fall into three dis- 

 tinct groups: the true Kalij, in which the prevailing tint on 

 the backs of the males is black ; the Burmese Silver Pheasant 

 {G. lincatus), in which the back is grey formed by fine ver- 

 miculations of white and black ; and, linally, the Chinese 



