1 W ReceJitly jMblisJied Ornithohigical Works. 



We cannot forbear adding the following quotation from 

 the work : it would make an excellent text for an ornitho- 

 logical sermon ! — " At the present day the process of genus- 

 making, which bids fair not to cease till every species — we 

 do not speak of geographical races — has a genus for itself, 

 is imposing a severe tax on the brains of ornithologists, and 

 is defeating its own ends. Even the closest specialists cannot 

 always refer species to their "^ proper genera,^ because their 

 ' peculiarities ' are not peculiar to them, or are intangibly 

 small.-" 



With reference to our authors' allusion (p. 704) to the 

 supposed discovery of a Cuban Owl {Glaucidium siju) in the 

 Canaries by Dr. Koenig, it should be noted that, after the 

 statement made by Mr. Meade-Waldo (Ibis, 1893, p. 186), 

 there can be no doubt that this was an error, and that the Owl 

 in question was brought to the Canaries by human agency. 

 This fictitious event cannot, therefore, be quoted as an instance 

 of "■ discontinuous distribution,'' 



15. Nelson on new Mexican Birds. -i 



[Descriptiou of new Birds from Mexico, with a Revision of the G-}enus 

 Dactylortyx. By E. W. Nelson. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, xii. 

 p. 57 (1898).] 



The following new species and subspecies are based upon 

 specimens of Mexican birds in the collection of the Biological 

 Survey, U. S. Department of Agriculture : — Heleodytes brun- 

 neicajjillus obscurus, Vireo nanus, Progne sinaloce, Phoenico- 

 ihraupis rubicoides roseus, A7nphispiza bilineata grisea,Guiraca 

 chiapensis, Grallaria ochraceiventris, Amazilia cinnamomea 

 saturata, Dactylortyx cMapensis, and D. devius. Mr. Nelson 

 makes out four representative species of Dactylortyx from 

 different parts of Mexico. 



16. Neumann on the Avifauna of German and British East- 

 Africa. 



[Beitriige zur Vogelfaima von Ost- und Central-Africa, Von Oscar 

 Neumann. Journ. f. Orn, 1898, p. 227.] 



This is the first portion of an account by Herr Oscar 



