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A Monograph of the Petrels (Order Tuhinares). By F. Du Cane 

 Godman, F.R.S. Large Royal 4to, with over 100 hand- 

 coloured plates. Witherby & Co. 



This Monograph of the Petrels was originally contemplated 

 by the late Osbert Salvin, and there could not have been 

 a more fitting author for the work. It has now been taken up 

 by his friend, Dr. Godman, with whom he was associated in 

 so many of his ornithological researches, and the large amount 

 of material accumulated by him has been added to and 

 brought up to date to form the basis of the present work. 



It is to be issued in five quarterly parts, the first two of 

 which are now before us. These deal with the large family of 

 Storm Petrels, of which there are twenty-five species included 

 in eight genera, and twenty-four species of Shearwaters in one 

 genus {Puffinus). It will thus be seen that the greater number 

 of the British species are included in these two instalments. 



The general arrangement of the work is on the usual lines 

 of such Monographs, and has been admirably carried out. 

 Starting each species with an adequate synonymy, the author 

 adds a short Latin diagnosis, and then follow s the geographical 

 distribution, and such detail of habits, food, and nesting as 

 are at present known, and each article ends with a full 

 description of the eggs and the various phases of plumage, 

 including, in many cases the nestlings, and a statement of the 

 sources whence the specimens described and figured were 

 obtained. 



It is inevitable, when deahng with such a wide subject, that 

 the types of one or two of the species are still unique, and 

 the breeding quarters of several others still unknown ; so that 

 there are many gaps in our knowledge that yet require filling. 

 It is to be noted, however, that a large amount of fresh 

 knowledge has lately been acquired with regard to a number 

 of species by the researches of the recent antarctic expeditions, 

 notably our own National, and the Scottish Expedition, and 

 of this knowledge the author has made full use, as a glance 

 at his article on Wilson's Petrel alone will at once show. 



With regard to the occasional wanderers to the British Isles, 

 we find their occurrences all briefly noticed with references to 

 the original records. It is interesting to note that Oceanodroma 

 castro, which was taken for the first time in Europe on the 

 coast of Kent in 1895, was found twice in Denmark during 



