^%l'-] Reviews. II9 



the work of a brother Austrahan naturalist, and in passing it by 

 has sHghted one of the most venerable and learned societies of 

 Great Britain, 



Again, in the chapter on the Great Bower-Bird, justice has 

 been denied to another well-known worker. The original 

 descriptions of eggs, &c., by Mr. Dudley Le Souef, C.M.Z.S., 

 which appeared in The Ibis, p. 359 (1899), and in the Victorian 

 Naturalist, vol. xvi., p. 66 (1899) have been ignored. Mr. North 

 has alluded to specimens of these eggs in the Ryan and Snow- 

 ball collections only, though almost every collector is aware that 

 Dr. Ryan, the late Dr. Snowball, and Mr. Le Souef formed a 

 syndicate of three to send Mr. E. Olive to the Northern 

 Territory. He has also quoted at length Mr. Olive's field note 

 pertaining to the Great Bower-Bird without acknowledging the 

 fact that the information was procured whilst Mr. Olive was in 

 the pay of the syndicate named. It would surely have been 

 courteous to do so. 



There is still another omission — and a very serious one — - 

 which cannot be overlooked. It is hard to understand why, 

 whilst the other Cuckoo-Shrikes have been fully described in the 

 present part, so well-defined a species as G. lineatus has not 

 been included. The non-inclusion of this bird renders Mr. 

 North's work incomplete, and discounts its value as a complete 

 work of reference very greatly. The beautiful Barred Cuckoo- 

 Shrike is certainly " found breeding in Australia," its habitat 

 includes Mr. North's own state, and its nest and eggs have long 

 since been discovered. They were described by Mr. Le Souef 

 in The Ibis, p. 314 (1896), and re-described in Mr. Campbell's 

 book {vide p. 99), with an authenticated coloured figure of an 

 egg on plate vii., while there is a photograph by Mr. Le Souef in 

 the Victorian Naturalist (vol. xiii., p. 6^, 1896) of another type 



of Pcrcr 



Looking casually at Mr. North's technical matter, it will be 

 noticed he states that the Satin Bower-Bird lays three eggs 

 " occasionally," and that both the Spotted Bower-Bird and the 

 Cat-Bird also lay three " sometimes." It would only be right 

 to have given his authority or data, because he has stated in his 

 previous work that these birds only lay two eggs to a clutch. 

 Regarding the Spotted Bower-Bird and a " remarkably hand- 

 some set of two in Mr. Joseph Gabriel's collection," it would have 

 been interesting had Mr. North furnished the history of these 

 eggs, especially as he has deemed it of sufficient importance to 

 figure one (pi. B ii., fig. 5). Again, touching the Spotted Bower- 

 Bird (page 44), Mr. North says, as " was pointed out by me 

 years ago, this bird is an excellent mimic." A footnote reference 

 would have been confirmatory evidence that he had first pointed 

 out this remarkable trait in the bird. 



Mr. North has probably made an omission by leaving South 

 Australia out of the " distribution " of the Oriole. At least one 



