July, 1909.] THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 35 



now in the hands of the Government Printer, in course of 

 publication. With part ii. of this work will be issued the 

 census of naturalized aliens and introduced exotics of this State, 

 which will, no doubt, be very useful to the various botanical 

 workers, and which gives some idea of the extraordinary way in 

 which naturalized aliens, mostly obnoxious, are replacing our 

 native flora. — J. R. Tovey. 



BOOK NOTICES. 



A Descriptive List of the Birds Native to Victoria, 

 Australia. Compiled by J. A. Leach, M.Sc, Organizing 

 Inspector of Nature Study, Education Department, Victoria. 

 Melbourne : J. Kemp, Government Printer. Price, 6d. 



This is a re-issue, in handy size, of the " Circular of Informa- 

 tion, No. 12, Nature Study," published as a supplement to the 

 Education Gazette for December last. The utility of the list 

 being quickly recognized, the original issue was soon exhausted, 

 consequently it was decided to reprint the list in a smaller sized 

 page, with such corrections and additions as were needed. As it 

 is, it forms an excellent guide to the birds of Victoria, so far as 

 can be accomplished without the aid of illustrations, and the 

 compiler is to be congratulated on the simple way in which he 

 has arranged his matter. The vernacular names are made the 

 foundation of the scheme, and, with many other common or local 

 names, are well indexed, so that there should be no difficulty in 

 identifying the bird for which any of them may be used. The 

 arrangement of the species is that adopted by Mr. Gregory 

 Mathews, F.L.S , in his " Handlist of the Birds of Australia," 

 recently published as a supplement to the Emu. The species are 

 tabulated in columns as follows : — i. Number of species (of a 

 genus, family, or order, &c.) found in Australia; 2. Number of 

 species found in Victoria ; 3. Names — vernacular, local, and 

 ■scientific ; 4. Total length of bird (including bill and tail) in inches ; 

 S. or N. Occurrence south or north of Main Divide, with further 

 indications as t<> the frequency with which the species is likely to 

 be met with ; 5. Kind of country usually seen in ; and 6. 

 Remarks — these generally consist of the leading points necessary 

 for the identification of the species. According to the list we 

 have 389 species recorded for Victoria, of which 195 are common 

 to both northern and southern Victoria; 71 are recorded for 

 northern Victoria only; while 123 (including 60 sea and shore 

 birds) have been recorded from southern Victoria only. That 

 the list is a useful one is unnecessary to state, and we will be 

 pleased to welcome others of a similar character, for which there 

 is ample room. 



