196 Miscellaneous. 



Europe it is replaced by a closelj' allied but specifically distinct race, 

 Txirdus alpestris. For the Linnet and Redpolls the genus Qanna- 

 hina is adopted, which is, we think, wrong, as Linota is the correct 

 generic title for this group. 



The author says in the Preface that '• the classification and. 

 nomenclature practically accord with those of the ' List of British 

 Birds ' compiled by a committee of the British Ornithologists' Union, 

 but a number of necessary alterations have been made"; and we 

 think it would have been much better if he had followed that list 

 more closely than he has done. In the first case the adoption of 

 the so-called Scomher-scomher principle is a mistake, as pointed out 

 in the 'Ibis' (1894, p. 566, and 1895, p. 168), and is in direct 

 opposition to the Stricklandian code and the B. 0. U. Committee. 

 But Mr. Swann does not, we perceive, adopt this principle all through, 

 as he calls the Hawfinch Coccothraustes vulgaris and the Goldfinch 

 Carduelis elegans and not Coccotliraustes coccothraustes and Carduelis 

 carcluelis. It is a pity also that trinominalism has been introduced 

 into this work, as it is, we hold, not calculated to simplify matters 

 and has not taken root, here in England at least, and seems out of 

 place in a work which is especially adapted for use by the general 

 public and not by scientific ornithologists. 



On the whole, however, the work is one calculated to be of u^e 

 to the small collector, being handy in size, well up to date, and well 

 within the means of small collectors as regards price, but would, 

 we think, prove more useful were it subjected to some alteration 

 and revision. 



MISCELLAj!^EOUS. 



On the Habitat of Gobius elapoides, Gthr. 



To the Editors of the ^Annals and Magazine of Natural History.' 



Gentlemen, — When Dr. Giinther (Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1871, 

 p. 665, pi. Ixiii. fig. D) gave the description and figure of this 

 beautiful and highly interesting Gobius he could not certify its 

 habitat, oiily supposing that it inhabits some part of the coasts of 

 the Japanese regions. It may thus be worth noticing that the 

 Museum of Upsala has received a specimen, length 83 millim. 

 (68 millim. without caudal fin, from the tip of the snout to the 

 front margin of the last transverse dark brown band), that was 

 taken by Captain Sveusson at St. John's Island, 90 miles east of 

 Hongkong. 



Tours truly, 

 Stockholm, r- ^- ^MiTT. 



July 7, 1896. 



