■D^^u^ ^ ^ rVict. Nat. 



74 noons, C^C: L August 



BOOKS, &c. 



A Handbook of the Birds of Tasmania and its Depend- 

 encies. By Frank M. Littler, F.E.S. 242 + xviii. pp., 

 with 50 plates. 4s. 1910. Launceston : Published by the 

 Author. 

 Seeing that many Victorian birds occur also in Tasmania, this 

 handbook of the birds of the island State will prove a useful 

 addition to the library of Victorian ornithologists. The author is 

 to be congratulated on the clear and concise plan adopted for 

 recording the various species, which is on the following system : 

 —Male, Female, Young, Nest, Eggs, Breeding Season, Geo- 

 graphical Distribution, and Observations. He has taken the 

 opportunity to quote the latest Tasmania^i Game Protectio7i Act, 

 and gives a complete list of the species protected under it, and, 

 so that there need be no excuse for ignorance of the fact, an 

 asterisk is placed at the commencement of each article dealing 

 with a protected bird. Another useful feature, which authors of 

 similar works often omit, is the systematic index, which also 

 includes the vernacular names. These latter are again indexed 

 alphabetically at the end of the volume. Mr. Littler reckons the 

 number of absolutely authenticated species for Tasmania and the 

 islands, including accidentals, casuals, and migrants, at slightly 

 over 200, of which rather more than half are permanent residents, 

 while 21 of these are "peculiar" or insular forms. It may be" 

 remarked that the resident birds of Tasmania show marked 

 melanistic tendencies as compared with those of the Australian 

 mainland, whilst it is also noticeable that of the species " peculiar " 

 to the island all, except the Lesser White-backed Magpie, Gymnm^- 

 hina hyperleuca, are larger than their nearest allies on the main- 

 land. The illustrations are a prominent feature of the work. 

 Though several from the cameras of Messrs. Campbell, Mattingley, 

 &c., have already appeared in The Emu, the majority have been 

 taken specially for the handbook. Those contributed by Mr. H. 

 C. Thompson are particularly good, and embrace some beautiful 

 subjects. The Dusky Fantail on Nest, The Nest and Young of 

 Grey Butcher-bird, Nest of New Holland Honey-eater, and Nest 

 of Black-headed Honey-eater may be mentioned as good examples 

 of this observer's work. The volume has been printed by Walker, 

 May and Co., and leaves nothing to be desired from a typo- 

 graphical point of view. The observations are naturally the 

 most interesting portion of the work, and contain in a few 

 sentences a vast amount of information. Taken altogether the 

 volume is one which will be found extremely useful by bird-lovers 

 both in Tasmania and in the other Australian States. 



Geological Survey Publications. — The Mines Department, 

 Victoria, has recently issued two publications of great interest, 

 one being Bulletin No. 23 -" Biographical Sketch of the 



