Vol. IV. 

 1905 



1 From Magazines, &c. I4S 



preserved to be shipped to America and Europe and sold as 

 Eagle feathers,' which were in great demand for trimming 

 on ladies' hats. The feathers from the breast were plucked off 

 and sold by the pound. A profitable business was thus de- 

 veloped, with the deplorable result that within six years the 

 entire colony of these splendid birds has been exterminated." 



Review. 



The Australian Museum Special Catalogue (No. i), " Nests and 

 Eggs," by Alfred J. North, C.M.Z.S., &c., &c., has reached its 

 fourth part, which deals with the genus Malurus and the 

 families Turdidce, SylviidcB, and Timeliidcs, including in all 80 

 species. 



Probably the unfortunate ill-health of the author may have 

 somewhat delayed the publication of the present part, which 

 concludes vol. i. of the work. (It is to be regretted that, in 

 consequence of the inadequacy of funds, Mr. R. Etheridge, jun., 

 the Curator, has announced it will be some time before a further 

 instalment can be issued.) 



The work continues its high standard of excellence as regards 

 both typography and plates. The sketches of the birds by the 

 late Mr. N. Cayley are noticeably artistic. The letterpress 

 indicates not only much original work, but patient research 

 among the literature and the collections of others. The pages 

 (3 1 1-3 16) referring to the cave-dwelling Rock- Warbler (Origma 

 rubricata), mostly from Mr. North's personal observations, are 

 exceedingly interesting, and their value is enhanced by plates of 

 " Nesting Haunts of the Rock- Warbler " and " Nest of Rock- 

 Warbler (in situ) " from photos, taken by the author himself. 



Notwithstanding all this excellence, as an up-to-date reference 

 the work is faulty. Reading between the lines one cannot fail 

 to notice how skilfully the author has avoided references to the 

 useful labours of certain contemporary authors. If, as a " Special 

 Catalogue," the data of many species are not up to date, the 

 value of the work in this aspect must suffer severely. 



To begin with the beautiful genus Malurus — it does not signify 

 whether we call these charming little birds Superb Warblers or 

 Wrens. Australians — students or tyros — will read their histories 

 with genuine delight. The author, with his intense love for 

 " priority," goes back to 1782, and states that M. cyaneus (Ellis), 

 a specific name hitherto (for more than half a century) attributed 

 to the familiar Blue Wren of the mainland, must now be restricted 

 to the Tasmanian species, while the former is to be known as 

 M. superbus of Shaw, 1790. But, as the author of the " Special 

 Catalogue " is such a " stickler " for priority it is all the more 

 imcomprehensible why he has ignored the following references 

 to other Maluri, and has suppressed all more recent knowledge 

 of a large and distinct Blue Wren {M . elizabethce) from King 



