184 REPORT — 1844. 



318. The work abounds with important observations on the geographical 

 distribution of species, not only in Sicily, but in other parts of South Europe 

 and North Africa. As the island of Sicily serves as a sort of stepping-stone 

 between these two continents, it affords an interesting station for observing 

 the habits of migratory species. 



A similar catalogue raisonnee of the birds of Liguria was published at 

 Genoa in 184<0, by the Marquis Diirazzo, and is entitled 'Notizie degli 

 Uccelli Liguri.' Catalogues of the birds of the Venetian provinces have been 

 published by Catullo, Basseggio, and Contarini, the latter of whom enume- 

 rates no less than 339 species. 



A brief notice of the birds of Sardinia will be found in the 'Voyage en Sar- 

 daigne,' 2nd ed. 1839, by Count de la Marmora, in which it is announced that 

 Professor Gene is about to publish a complete fauna of that island. 



The island of Malta possesses an able ornithologist in Sig*" Schembri, who 

 has published a ' Catalogo Ornitologico del Gruppo di Malta,' 1843. His 

 other work, the ' Quadro Geografico Ornitologico,' is a highly useful volume, 

 showing in parallel columns the ornithology of Malta, Sicily, Rome, Tuscany, 

 Liguria, Nice, and the department of Gard. These form almost the first 

 works on zoology ever printed in the island of Malta, and they show that, 

 even in the most insulated localities, an active naturalist will always find 

 abundant occupation. The author enumerates about 230 species of birds in 

 Malta, nearly the whole of which are migratory. 



Several new species of birds have been added to the fauna of the South of 

 Europe by Dr. Ruppell, in the ' Museum Senkenbergianum,' 1837. 



Greece. — But little has been done in Greece to illustrate ornithological 

 science. The ' Expedition Scientifique de la Moree' contains a summary of 

 sixty-six species there observed, but without adding much to our knowledge. 

 A few new species (which however require further examination) are described 

 by M. Lindermayer in the 'Isis,' and ' Revue Zoologique,' 1843. The most 

 complete work on the subject is the ' Beitrage zur Ornithologie Griechen- 

 lands,' by H. von der Miihle, Leipzig, 1844, in which no less than 321 species 

 are noticed, and are accompanied with many original observations of great 

 value. The researches of this author have added several species to the 

 European fauna. 



The birds of the Ionian Islands and of Crete are enumerated and accom- 

 panied with some valuable remarks on their migrations and habits by Captain 

 H. M. Drummond, 42nd R.H. in the ' Annals of Natural History,' vol. xii. 

 p. 412. 



Spain. — 'The ornithology of the Spanish peninsula is as yet but imperfectly 

 known. A list of some of the birds is given in Captain Cooke's (now Wid- 

 drington) 'Tour in Spain.' (See also his ' Spain in 184-3.') That gentleman 

 was, I believe, the first discoverer of the Pica cyanea in Spain, a species 

 which, if it be really identical with the Garrulus cyaneus of Pallas, found in 

 Siberia and Japan, presents a most unusual instance of the existence of the 

 same species in two remote regions, without occurring in the intervening 

 space. M. Temminck has described several new species brought from the 

 South of Spain by Parisian collectors, and I'rom the proximity of that region 

 to Africa, it is probable that further additions to the European fauna may 

 be there made. 



Of the birds of Madeira there is a brief notice by Dr. Heineken in the 

 ' Zoological Journal,' vol. v. ; and several species are described by Sir W. 

 Jardine in Ainsworth's ' Edinburgh Journal of Natural and Geographical 

 Science.' 



The Canary Islands present a fauna more allied to that of Europe than the 



