V°'4^] Review. .147 



North's Desert-Bird {Erciniornis cartcri) " a beautiful coloured 

 plate " of which also appeared in Tkc Ibis, part xiv. (1902), 

 from the same locality, and mentioned at length in Mr. North's 

 work. 



The chapter on the curious Bristle-Birds iSphcnurce) is very 

 interesting. But there is no mention of Mr. Milligan's S. 

 Littoralis, discovered by himself in South-Western Australia, and 

 described in The Emu, vol. i., p. 67 (1902). This new species 

 has been recognized by the British Museum (see Sharpe's " Hand- 

 List of Birds," but not by the Australian Museum. 



The remarks on the various tiny Tits {AcanthizcB), or Thornbills, 

 as they are termed, are very complete so far as they go. While 

 for A. ewingi the author furnishes his own reference (Proc. 

 Linn. Soc. N.S.W., 30th March, 1904) for the reinstatement of 

 this long-lost species, he omits to refer to previous information 

 regarding the reinstatement of the Tit by Colonel Legge (see 

 " Some Rectification in Tasmanian Ornis," Emu, vol. iii., p. 179, 

 7th January, 1904), not to mention the " Proceedings of the 

 Australasian Ornithologists' Union " in session at Hobart, 

 November, 1903, when specimens of A. ewingi, in the flesh, 

 were laid on the table for examination {Emu, vol. iii., p. 159). 



Mr. North mentions having received A. ewingi in the flesh 

 from Tasmania in March, 1902. Why he withheld this interest- 

 ing information for two years, and till after the Hobart session 

 of the Aust. O.U., is not explained. Re the extension of locality 

 to Western x'\ustralia of A. tenuirostris, first chronicled by Mr. 

 A. W. Milligan in The Emu, vol. iii., p. 68 (1903), instead of 

 quoting this direct record Mr. North quotes second-hand part 

 of a letter from Mr. A. Zietz (Adelaide Museum), who, writing 

 to Mr. North, states : — " I have received here for examination 

 from the Perth Museum an adult male of A. tenuirostris." 

 When taking leave of the Acanthizas, on page 289, Mr. North 

 rightly deprecates " encumbering the ornithological literature of 

 many species with useless synonyms, which are neither flattering 

 to the describers of them nor of interest to the student or general 

 reader." But here is a genuine bit of " hair-splitting " by the 

 author of the " Special Catalogue " himself. He proposes names 

 for two new species on very doubtful grounds — viz., A. zietzi 

 and A. master si \ while he has missed three new species proposed 

 by other authors — viz., A. magnirostris, Campbell {Emii, vol. ii., 

 p. 202, April, 1903) ; A. robustirostris, Milligan {cf. vol. iii., 

 p. 71, July, 1903) ; and A. pallida, Milligan {cf. vol. iii., p. 1 12, 

 October, 1903). 



It is difficult to find acceptable distinctive vernacular names 

 for some of Australia's peculiar birds. There is some objection 

 to the term " Thornbill " being applied to the Acanthizas, as 

 the former is already applied in America to a number of Humming- 

 Birds. " Squeaker," which is a vernacular for the Leaden Crow- 

 Shrike {Strepcra) in Western Australia, has been substituted 

 for Xerophila, while " Spinetail " for the Orthonyx may be 

 confused with " Spinetail " for the Swift {Chceturd). 



