Recently published Ornithological Works. 377 



plates, &c. in the ' Specimen Faunulse Indicae' thereto appended 

 (of which not Forster but Pennant is stated to be the author) , 

 is another question. TVe are of opinion that they should be 

 left in the obscurity in which they have remained since 1781, 

 because to resuscitate them would cause a multitude of most 

 inconvenient changes in our nomenclature ; and nomenclature 

 is, after all, a matter of convenience, not of right ! The revi- 

 val of Boddaert's ^'^ Table '^ was a great injury to ornithologi- 

 cal nomenclature ; the revival of Pennant's ' Specimen Fau- 

 nulse Indicse ' would be another. 



Mr. Elliot does not state in his text where the specimens 

 from which the figures are taken are to be i'ound. It is 

 always desirable to give this information, so as to facilitate sub- 

 sequent identifications. 



39. Gould's ' Birds of New Guinea.' 



■ [The Birds of New Guinea aud the adjacent Papuan Islands, including 

 any new Species that may be discovered in Australia. By John Gould, 

 F.R.S. &c. Part iv. Folio, 1877. Published by the Author, 26 Char- 

 lotte Street, Bedford Square, VV.C] 



Of Mr. Gould's 'Birds of New Guinea' we have spoken 

 on former occasions (Ibis, 1876, p. 363). The number 

 already issued this year contains figures of 



Pitta novfe-guinese. Melipotes gymnops. 



rosenbergii. Machserirhynchus albifrons. 



Paradisea sanguinea. nigripectus. 



raggiana. Psittacella brehmii. 



Melirrhophetes leucostephes. Malurus alboscapulatus. 



ochromelas. Parus arfaki. 



Melidectes torquatus. 



Of great interest are the new forms of Meliphagidse {Melir- 

 rhophetes and Melidectes) now figured for the first time from 

 specimens furnished by Dr. Meyer. Psittacella is a scarce 

 and novel form of the Psittacidse ; but is Parus arfaki a true 

 Parus ? 



40. Gould's ' Birds of Asia.' 



[The Birds of Asia. By J. Gould, F.R.S., &c. Dedicated to the 

 Honourable East-India Company. Part xxix. Folio. London : 1877. 

 Published by the Author, 26 Charlotte Street, Bedford Square, W.C.] 



