^■^'j _^^'] Reviews. 65 



Oriolus afllnis (Gould).— Omitted. l'-gf,'s kiKnvn. This sub-s)jecies 

 is recognized by others. 



Scenopaeetes dentirostris (Ramsay: and Prionodura newtoniana 

 (De Vis). — Mr. North described these birds in his vol. i., when the 

 eggs were unknown ; in his Appendix appears a very full description 

 of the eggs and nests. Why not have adopted a similar course in 

 other cases ? 



Strepera graculina (White). — Mr. North gives the clutch as three, 

 bul four eggs are frequently laid 



Ashbyia lovensis (Ashby). — Omitted. Quite as worthy of mention 

 as Eremiornis carteri (North). 



H. L. White. 



["Stories from Nature." By J. A. Fletcher. Macmillau and Co.] 

 Unlike some writers of nature stories, Miss Fletcher is a true 

 naturalist, as papers from her pen published in The Emu testify. 

 She has observed birds and other wild creatures in their haunts, 

 and her little book bears the sign-manual of the open air. It is 

 pleasantly written, too, and should delight young readers, for 

 whom it is chiefly intended. The volume opens with an account 

 of the adventures of " Tommy Oyster-catcher," and other birds 

 dealt with in following pages include Rosellas, Dottrels, Native- 

 Hens, and Bronze-Cuckoos. " An Evening Ramble " is one of 

 the best chapters. The half-tone illustrations, from photographs 

 by the author, Mr. A. H. E. Mattingley, and others, are excellent. 

 The book would make a capital gift for a boy or girl interested in 

 nature study. 



[" A List of British Birds." compiled by a committee of the British 

 Ornithologists' Union. Second and revised edition. Published by the British 

 Ornithologists' Union, and sold by Wm. Wesley and Son, 28 Essex-street, 

 Strand, London, W.C. 1915.] 



This Hst was received by Australian ornithologists with feelings of 

 relief. Over ninety — more than one-quarter of the genera repre- 

 sented in Australia— are included in the British list or its appendices. 

 As the same name must be used for the same bird wherever it is 

 found, one-quarter of the Australian generic names are thus fixed, 

 and further the standard of generic distinction for the whole is also 

 thus practically fixed. 



With the example before it of a second edition of the B.O.U. 

 list, and a third edition of the A.O.U. " Check-hst," a committee 

 of the R.A.O.U. Council is preparing for the congiess to be held in 

 Brisbane in October a report concerning the desirability of a 

 second edition of the R.A.O.U. "• Check-list." It now seems 

 possible that practical uniformity rendered so improbable, and yet 

 so necessary, by the pubHcation of the " Official Check-hst of the 

 Birds of Australia" and Mr. Mathews' " Reference-Hst " (1912) 

 and new hst (1913), will be achieved at an early date. The new 

 B.O.U. list opens the way to a complete agreement. 



