126 Recently published Ornithological Works. 



friends amongst them, and some of these are excellent. It 

 may be added that the sources whence they are derived are 

 always carefully indicated. 



The extraordinary features of the Maorian Ornis, which 

 entitle New Zealand and its satellites to rank as a distinct 

 subregion, are well known, and need not be discussed on the 

 present occasion. But the remarkable fact that the islands 

 are regularly visited in the summer by two species of para- 

 sitic Cuckoos, which arrive from the north to lay their eggs 

 in other birds' nests, is one that is always worthy of special 

 mention. 



One more subject in relation to the birds of New Zealand 

 must be alluded to, and it is a sad subject — the gradual 

 destruction of the native forms. " It cannot be doubted," 

 the authors of the volume tell us, " that the ancient Fauna, 

 as a whole and as it existed in its original state, is fast 

 departing," and there seems to be no prospect of saving it. 

 Many species are already extinct, others barely survive. 

 Two " sanctuaries " have been established — Little Barren 

 Island in the north, and Resolution Island in the south, but 

 this does not seem to have improved matters much. " Try as 

 we may we can never bring back the departed birds." 

 Smiling homesteads and well-tilled fields do not suit them. 

 ''Their habitations have been laid waste and their glory is 

 departed." 



15. Jagerskiold on Birds from the White Nile. 



[Birds from the White Nile. By L. A. Jagerskiold. Results of the 

 Swedish Zoological Expedition to Egypt and the White Nile, 1901. 

 Part I. 18 pp. 1004.] 



In 'The Ibis' for 1903 (p. 421) we gave a notice of 

 Dr. Walter Innes Bey's journey to the White Nile in 1901, 

 in company with the expedition sent out from Sweden, under 

 the direction of Mr. L. A. Jagerskiold, for the purpose of 

 studying the Fauna of the Sudan and the adjoining districts. 

 We have now a list of the species obtained or observed 

 by the Swedish Naturalists on this occasion, with short 

 field-notes on each of them. They are 129 in number, but 

 none are new. 



