19S REPORT — 1844. 



quets.' The lithographic plates are beautifully executed, but as they are un- 

 accompanied by letter-press they hardly belong to the class of monographs. 



Another continuation to the work of Levaillant is the ' Histcire Naturelle 

 des Peroquets,' by M. Bourjot St. Hilaire, Paris, 1835-38, folio. Many of the 

 plates are original, others are copied from Spix, Temminck, or Lear; they 

 are executed on stone, and though inferior to the works of Gould and Lear, 

 they are perhaps the best ornithological lithographs which have issued frorn 

 the French press. The text of this work is prepared with considerable care, 

 but the nomenclature wants precision, the Latin names being often wrong- 

 spelled, and the principle of binomial appellations departed from. Thus the 

 genus PalcEornis is in one instance designated Psittacus, in another Psittacus 

 sagittifer, and in a third Conurus sagittifer, with the addition in each case of 

 a specific name. What can we say of an author who designates a species as 

 "Psittacus platycercus viridis wiicolor," but that he is deserting that admirably 

 concise and effective method of nomenclature introduced eighty years ago by 

 the great Linneeus, and is resuming the vague and unscientific generalizations 

 of the ancient naturalists? 



I only know by name the ' Monographic der Papageien,' published in Ger- 

 many by C. L. Brehm. 



Some interesting details on the genera Crotophaga and Prionites were pub- 

 lished by Sir W. Jardine in the 'Annals of Natural History,' vols. iv. and vi., 

 and I last year communicated to the same work a paper on the structure and 

 affinities of the genera Upupa and Irrisor {Promerops of some authors), 

 showing that these genera are really allied, though M.Lafresnaye had main- 

 tained that they are widely separated (Proc. Zool. Soc, 1840). 



Mr. Vigors communicated to the earlier volumes of the ' Zoological Jour- 

 nal ' several papers of a monographic character, entitled " Sketches in Orni- 

 thology," which are distinguished by close research and careful induction. 



Among the ornithological works of this class which have appeared of late 

 years, Mr. Gould's ' Monographs of the Trogonidce and of ihe RhamphastidcB' 

 occupy a conspicuous place. Of these 1 need only say that they are executed 

 in the same form and with the same excellence as his other superb publica- 

 tions. Mr. Gould has also published a short monograph of Dendrocitta in 

 the ' Zoological Transactions.' He is now collecting materials for mono- 

 graphs of other families, including the OdontophorincB, the Caprimulgidte^ 

 and the Alcedmince. Of the OdontophorincB, or American Partridges, the 

 first number has already appeared ; and though they are a less gaudy tribe of 

 birds than many others, yet the admirable taste with which Mr. Gould has 

 depicted them renders the work peculiarly attractive. A translation with re- 

 duced plates of Gould's ' Monograph oi Rhamphastidae' has been published 

 in Germany by Sturm. 



Prof. C. J. Sundevall has described some species of Euphonid in the 'Kongl. 

 Vetenskaps Academiens Handlingar,' Stockholm, 1834. This paper is sup- 

 plementary to the monograph 'Degenere Euphones,' by Dr. Lund, published 

 at Copenhagen in 1829. 



Dr. Riippell's work, entitled 'Museum Senckenbergianum,' Frankfort, 1836, 

 contains some admirable monographs of the genera Otis, Campephaga, Colitis, 

 Cygnus, &c. They combine laborious bibliographical research with close 

 observation of structure, and are accompanied by excellent illustrative figures. 



Mr. Swaiiison published in the 'Journal of the Royal Institution,' 1831, 

 an essay on the ^rea/fc?!?;, which though founded on peculiar theoretical views 

 deserves to be consulted even by those who do not agree in the author's con- 

 clusions. This memoir prepared the way for Mr. Eyton's ' Monograph of the 

 Anatidce,' 1838, which is in many resjiects a valuable and accurate work, and 



