1898] SOME NEW BOOKS 59 
tained 558 pages and 577 plates) is in part accounted for by the 
introduction of a bibliography at the end of the book. This is a 
useful addition, and one which saves space in the text, as references 
are now given merely to a number to which the corresponding 
citation can be found in the list. Part of the increase in bulk is 
due to the extra figures, forty in number, a large proportion of which 
are coloured, including some officinal as well as poisonous plants. 
The new coloured blocks are better than the old, but though they 
certainly enliven the pages and often give a better idea of the plant 
than the average black and white figure, we question whether the 
advantages gained are sufficient to justify the increased cost of pro- 
duction. Certainly this is not the case in the English edition, where 
the colour-printing shows to far less advantage. 
THE Birps oF INDIA 
Tue FAUNA OF BririsH INDIA, INCLUDING CEYLON AND Burma. Edited by W. T. 
Blanford. Birds, Vol. IV., by W. T. Blanford, F.R.S. 8vo, pp. i-xxi+1-500. 
London: Taylor & Francis. Price, 15s. 
Ir is with unfeigned satisfaction that we hail the completion of this 
important series, which is calculated to further in no unimportant 
degree our knowledge of the zoology of the Indian Empire. When 
noticing the appearance of the third volume of the “ Birds” (Watural 
Science, VILI., p. 46, Jan. 1896), we deprecated any undue haste in the 
completion of the fourth volume, which was then under weigh. Little 
more than two years have since elapsed, and yet Mr Blanford has 
contrived to deal exhaustively with no fewer than twelve important 
Orders, a task entailing enormous labour both in the museum and the 
library. No doubt the undertaking has been considerably facilitated 
by the volumes of the British Museum Catalogue which have recently 
been drawn up by Messrs Ogilvie-Grant, Howard Saunders, Dr Sharpe, 
and Count Salvadori; but Mr Blanford has expended an immense 
amount of thought and trouble upon his new book. We notice, by 
the way, that he is unable to recognise the validity of Merganser coma- 
tus of Salvadori. This Himalayan form of the Goosander (. castor) 
is usually just recognisable by its slightly shorter bill, and rather nar- 
rower black borders of the tertiary quills in the male; but we think 
that Mr Blanford has acted wisely in ignoring these fine distinctions. 
Mr Finn’s re-discovery of the Eastern White-eyed Pochard as an Indian 
bird shows how much good work remains to be accomplished by up-to- 
date workers in that country. A good figure of Wyroca baert may, of 
course, be consulted, by referring to the work of its original discoverer, 
Radde (“ Reisen im Siiden von Ost-Siberien,” Taf. xv.). We ques- 
tion whether Mr Blanford was justified in including Anser brachyryn- 
chus in the Indian ‘ Ornis,’ in the absence of any authenticated speci- 
mens. It is at least as likely that the Pink-footed Geese recorded by 
Blyth, Irby, and others may have belonged to the recently described 
Anser neglectus of P. Sushkin (¢f. /bis. 1897, pp. 5-8).  H. A. M. 
A NEw ORNITHOLOGICAL SERIAL 
AvicuLA, Giornale Ornitologico Italiano per lo studio dell’ Avifanna Italica, e per tutto 
quanto ha relazione con gli uccelli in generale. Direttore Cav. 8. Brogi, Siena. 
Nos. 1-8, 1897, 1898. Annual subser., 4 francs 50, post-free. 
THE pursuit of ornithology finds so many enthusiastic devotees on the 
Continent, that the establishment of an organ intended to deal speci- 
