136 Reviews. [.ncfoct. 



one a little of Stevenson, and again of Hudson and Thoreau. His 

 chapter on " Silences " is delicately wrought and as " soothing as 

 the perfume of violets.'' 



The volume contains a great deal about fruits and flowers, and 

 several chapters are devoted to marine life. Bird-life is dealt 

 with in Chapters xix.. xx., and xxi., under the captions 

 " Intelligent Birds," " Swifts and Eagles," and " Socialistic 

 Birds " respectively. The Koel (Eudynaniis cyanocephala) forms 

 the subject of a discursive essay,' which should be read for its 

 picture of the Cuckoo as a scout. " Do birds play ? " asks Mr. 

 Banfield, and proceeds to describe the actions of two young 

 Cassowaries (Casuarius australis) which playfully performed 

 martial exercises. The birds were wont to stride about a stout 

 post, lurch against it, and, feigning fury, lash out at the piece of 

 wood with unrestrained violence. Anecdotes of a clever Red- 

 collared Lorikeet, which played the game of stalking with a yellow 

 cat, and of a Scrub-Fowl that laid her eggs in a space between 

 two horizontal slabs of granite — a natural incubator — are given, 

 and there are many interesting notes regarding the Nutmeg-Pigeon 

 and the nesting habits of the Shining Calornis. 



A small colony of the Grey-rumped Swiftlet {Collocalia francica) 

 exists on Dunk Island, and Mr. Bantield has studied the birds 

 closely. The nests are situated in a cave on one of the highest 

 points of the island, being fastened to the roof by "a semi-trans- 

 parent white substance resembling isinglass," with which also the 

 materials composing them — fine grass, moss, and fibre — are con- 

 solidated. The Swiftlet lays a single white egg, and the breeding 

 season extends over 4 months, the earliest date on which a 

 newly-laid egg was discovered being 14th October. As far as 

 Mr. Banfield has observed, the birds never rest save in the cave, 

 clinging to the nests or to the roof. They do not utter a note 

 " except the reassuring prattle upon alighting on the edge of the 

 nest." 



" My Tropic Isle " is a delightful chronicle of island life — a book 

 to possess, not to borrow. It should be added the volume is well 

 printed and bound, and contains a number of half-tone illus- 

 trations reproduced from photographs. 



Correspondence. 



NOMENCLATURE OF AUSTRALIAN AVIFAUNA. 



To the Editors of " The Emu." 



Sirs, — I have read with considerable interest Mr. Gregory M. 

 Mathews' letter in the last issue of The Emu (pp. 52-58), relative 

 to the nomenclature of the Australian avifauna. 



Before commenting ujwn the letter, I desire, as one deeply 



