50 Reviews. [isJ^Tuiy 



[" Nests and Eggs of Birds Found Breeding in Australia and Tasmania,'" 

 by Alfred J. North, C.M.Z.S.. &c.] 



This publication of the Australian Museum proceeds slowly. 

 The Trustees have issued part i of vol. iii. It was intended to 

 publish 120 pages — about one-third of the volume — but insufficiency 

 of paper has prevented this. It contains the Family CuculidcB 

 and the Sub-Family CentropodincE, forming the concluding portion 

 of the Order PicaricB ; the Family Loriidce and portion of the 

 Family Cacatiiidce of the Order Psittaci. As in the previous 

 parts, the illustrations of birds are reproduced from drawings 

 made by the late Mr. Neville Cayley, who was also responsible 

 for hand-colouring the plates of eggs in the coloured copies. 

 Most of the figures of eggs of the Family Ciicitlidce have been 

 published in previous parts. The eggs of the different species 

 of the Order Psitiaci all being white, no plate of Australian birds' 

 eggs is issued with this part. Mr. R. Etheridge, the Curator, 

 advises that part 2 is already in the printer's hands, and will be 

 gone on with immediately on the receipt of the paper, which, 

 it is anticipated, will not be long delayed. 



THE A.O.U. CHECK-LIST OF NORTH AMERKAX BIRDS. 



["Check-list of North American Birds," prepared by a Committee of 

 the American Ornithologists' Union. Third edition (revised). New York. 

 1910.] 



This valuable work has reached Australia at an opportune moment. 

 The Check-hst Committee of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists' 

 Union is already at work, and the members must profit by the 

 study o£ this publication, which has stood the test of time. 



It will interest Australians to note that trinomials are used to 

 indicate sub-species. This is certainly a departure from the 

 present Australian method of using a totally different name, 

 which leaves the student without any indication that the liird 

 under notice may not be a species, but a sub-species only. 



One point that lessens the value of the A.O.U. Check-list, to 

 Australian ornithologists, at least, is the omission of nearly all 

 synonyms. Had the corresponding name in Sharpe's " Hand-list 

 of Birds " been given as a synonym, the usefulness of the A.O.U. 

 Check-list would have been increased to workers abroad. Few 

 will recognize the Curlew-Stint under the name of Erolia fcr- 

 fuginea. 



Though the Check-list forms a large volume of 420 pages, it contains 

 no descriptions. The scientific name and authority, the vernacular 

 name, the number of the species in the previous edition, a refer- 

 ence to the original description, and the range of each species, com- 

 pletes the information given in the List. Sub-species are similarly 

 treated. Each is denoted by a letter. 



The nomenclature conforms to the " Revised Code of Nomen- 

 clature " issued by the A.O.U. in July, 1908. Changes are 

 " numerous," owing to the " strict application of the law 01 



