162 Recently published Ornithological Works. [Ibis, 



The expedition stayed on Easter Island only a short time, 

 and the collections thence are not so complete. There are 

 said to be twelve species inhabiting the island. Of these, 

 examples of six were obtained, all sea birds. Procelsterna 

 caerulea shottsbergii and Pterodioma lieraldica paschte are 

 described as new. 



It is interesting to note that the holy bird o£ the Easter 

 Islands, about which Mrs. Routledge has written (' The 

 Mystery of Easter Island/ London, 1919) and which is called 

 locally '-JManntara,^^ is identified by Mr. Bixckstroin as 

 Sterna lanata Peale, while Mrs. Routledge believes it to 

 be tliC Dusky Tern, Anous stolidus unicohr. 



McClymont''s Ornithological Essays. 



[Essa_Ys on early Ornithology and kindred subjects. By James 

 Pt. McClymont. Pp. 1-34; 3 plates. London (Quaritch), 1920. 

 Sm. 4to.] 



In this little work Mr. McClymont endeavours to identify 

 the birds mentioned 'in some of the old travellers' narratives, 

 a fascinating task, though often difficult to bring to a 

 satisfactory conclusion. His first attempt is to identify 

 Marco Polo's " Rukh/' a bird said to liave an expanse of 

 wing of thirty paces. This he frankly gives up in despair. 



The birds met with during the first voyage of Vasco da 

 Gama to India are perhaps less fanciful. Penguins still 

 exist on the coasts of South Africa in very^ considerable 

 numbers, as well as seals or, rather, sea-lions (Arctocephalus 

 pusiUus), though the latter are stated by our author to be 

 no longer denizens of those regions. A reference to the 

 volume on Mammals in the 'Fauna of South Africa' would 

 have put this matter right. Other essays deal with the 

 early voyages to the Banda or Spice Islands and to Western 

 Australia and New Zealand. 



We would suggest that the diving bird '•' plongeon," met 

 with by Crozet on the island, since named Marion Island, 

 in the southern Indian Ocean, is the Diving Petrel, Pele- 

 canoides exul, a species which is very abundant in those 

 waters. 



