Miscellaneous. 475 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. 



An Illustrated Manual of British Birds. By Howard Saunders, 

 F.L.S., P.Z.S., &c. Parts xiii.-xx. 

 The issue of the concluding part of this book imposes upon us the 

 pleasing duty of congratulating the Author of what may certainly 

 be considered one of the most useful of recent publications. The 

 accuracy which marked the earlier portion has been fully sustained 

 in the remainder, and no pains have been spared to render the 

 volume as complete as possible ; while, without adding to the esti- 

 mated expense, maps have been furnished of the United Kingdom, 

 Europe, and the North Polar district, showing the elevation of the 

 land and the depth of the surrounding seas in the first two cases. 

 The labour involved in the constant condensation necessitated by 

 the plan of the work must have been enormous, especially in such 

 articles as those on the Bed Grouse, Curlew, Great Bustard, 

 and Great Auk : yet we notice that space is found for many 

 useful details — for example, the critical differences between the 

 Arctic, Common, and Roseate Terns, the Slavonian and Eared Grebes, 

 the Arctic and Long-tailed Skuas, the eggs of the Guillemot and 

 Razorbill. 



The new woodcut of the Great Auk is taken from Bullock's 

 Orkney specimen, while the Killdeer and Sociable Plovers, the 

 Mediterranean Black-headed Giiil, the Solitary Sandpiper, the 

 Lesser Golden Plover, and the White-billed Northern Diver are 

 recognized as British birds, and the first three are figured. 

 The Spotted Sandpiper, on the other hand, is now rejected. 

 Besides this, the names Wedge-tailed Gull, Bonaparte's Gull, and 

 Little Tern have been substituted for Cuneate-taUed Gull, Bona- 

 partian Gull, and Lesser Tern, which were employed by Yarrcll and 

 which Mr. Saunders evidently felt constrained to employ in the 4th 

 edition of the work which bears that author's name ; the changes 

 rendered possible by the absence of that feeling being decided improve- 

 ments. A new derivation is suggested for the word ' Avocet; ' the 

 discovery of the Pectoral Sandpiper's eggs has been made since the 

 4th edition of ' Yarrell ' appeared ; and a probable occurrence of 

 the Great Auk in the St. Kilda group has been lately brought to 

 light. 



In the Appendix, among further notes on several species, are to 

 be found important records of the breeding of the Sand-Grouse and 

 Snow-Bunting in Scotland, with the capture in Britain of Einheriza 

 cio'ides. The Introduction contains a list of the families and genera, 

 with characters of the latter ; while in the full and thorough Index 

 we are glad to see that different typo is used to distinguish the above 

 as well as the species, and that in cases of local or little-known 

 names the usual English equivalents have been added in brackets, 

 to avoid the necessity of a double reference. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



Note on the Occurrence of a Species of Bothriceps in the Karoo 



Sijstem of South Africa. By R. Ltdekkek. 



Specimens of skulls of a small Labyrinthodont from the Karoo 



System of the Orange Free State preserved in the British Museum 



