vol-ji-] Reviews. 39 



in the " Hand-List " as included in those sub-classes, which 

 embrace Emu, Cassowary, Mallee Fowl, &c. ; Quails, Pigeons, 

 Rails, Grebes, Penguins, Petrels, and Albatrosses ; Terns, Gulls, 

 &c. About lOO of the species described are Australian. 



Ten years ago the whole of the Museum's collection was 

 arranged and labelled by Miss Emily Sharpe, under the super- 

 vision of her father (Dr. Bowdler Sharpe) and the late Mr. 

 Henry Seebohm. The present catalogue is the work of Mr. E. 

 W. Oates, known to Australian ornithologists as the editor of 

 the second edition of Hume's "Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds," 

 and as the author of the earlier volumes of the " Aves " in the 

 "Fauna of British India." Dr. Lankester says Mr. Oates "has 

 performed his work conscientiously," which means much, and 

 every student of the volume will consider this well-deserved 

 praise. 



The author has followed the classification and nomenclature 

 of Dr. Sharpe's " Hand- List of the Genera and Species of Birds" 

 — i.e., commencing with the RatitcE (Emu, &c.) instead of ending 

 with them, and in the arrangement of his matter has made the 

 book what a " classic " should be. Each technical name and its 

 authority stand out clearly ; synonyms and sufficient references 

 follow, the latter including invariably the " Catalogue of Birds 

 in the British Museum " and the " Hand-List " previously men- 

 tioned. Then follows a concise description of shape and colour 

 of the eggs, with dimensions in inches, succeeded by numbers, 

 localities, &c., of the originals. In addition to the specific 

 description, an admirable practice has been adopted of giving 

 a general one, or " family likeness," of the eggs as a heading to 

 each order. 



At the end of the volume i8 plates are given, depicting in 

 colour lithography 134 species of eggs. These are the special 

 work of Messrs. Pawson and Brailsford, Sheffield, from drawings 

 by Mr. H. Gronvold, and, if anything, exceed in excellence 

 former good work by that firm. The selection of a rough- 

 grained paper has been the means of imparting to the pictures 

 of the larger eggs a vraiseinblance to the superficial (pitted) 

 appearance of the natural shell, which is usually lacking in a 

 delineation of such an object. The only fault is in Plate I., 

 in which the too-pronounced " high lights " detract from its 

 beauty from an artistic standpoint. 



Australians will naturally turn first to the history and descrip- 

 tions of the eggs of their own birds, and Mr, Oates records 

 that the first acquisition of a collection of these by the 

 British Museum was made in 1856, when Sir D, Cooper 

 presented a small assortment. In 1881 Gould's historical 

 collection of Australian and European eggs was acquired. 

 More recently (1891) some eggs, chiefly of sea-birds taken 

 in North-West Australia by Mr. J. J. Walker during the 



