122 Short Notices of Orn'itlioJnqkal PuhVieaf'iom. 



13. The Binls of Africa. Bj Captain G. E. Shelley. 



Vol. V. part 2. Completed and edited b}^ W. 



L. Sclater, M.A., F.Z.S. Heniy Sotheran & Co., 



43 Piccadilly, W. 

 Captain Shelley got as far as part 1 oE yol. y. of his 

 now well-known work on South African Birds, when a 

 stroke oE paralysis rendered hini in 1906 unfit for further 

 work. He died on 29th November, 1910, but shortly before 

 his death Mr. W. L. Sclater was asked by Mvs. Shelley to 

 undertake the completion of the work. Tiie present part 

 was accordingly brought up to date, revised, and put 

 through the press, and the publishers hope to see the work 

 completed with another four or five volumes. The present 

 part deals with the Section Lanii, comprising, amongst 

 some l\fadagascar genera which do not concern us, the 

 Dicrurida3 or Drongo Shrikes, the C/ampophagidre or Cuckoo 

 Shrikes, and the Laniida3 or True Shrikes. Amongst the 

 eight l)eautiful plates by Mr. H. Griinyold we have figures 

 of y^lr.ator chloris, y. (/alaris, and Enrocephalns anqnitimens. 

 There are again some changes of nomenclature, our Common 

 Shrike being called Fi.scus coUaris, the genus Lanins being 

 retained for the " ininor " group only. The Red-backed 

 Shrike, so well-known as Lanins coUurio, is called Knneoc- 

 tomis collurio, while the genus PoviatorJii/nchus (Ix^tter 

 known to English ornithologists as TelepJtoitus) is now calhni 

 Tschagra. Mr. Sclater considers Pomatorht/nchiis of Boie 

 untenable, because it was evidently a misprint or a correction 

 of Horsfield's J^omatorhinus given to the Scimitar-bills of 

 the Oriental R(^gion. The genus Pelicinius is discarded in 

 favour of Telojthorus of Swainson, owing to the type of the 

 former Ijeing Lanins barharus, Linn., vvliich makes Pelicimus 

 synonymous with T^aniarius. Tt will be a fortunate lliing 

 for ornithologists when scientific names liave been .set I led 

 once and for all by an internationnl congress. 



The 'Birds of Africa' should bf in ihc hands of every 

 serious student of African Ornithology. It is well got u]), 

 clearly printed, and exhaustive. 



