Vol. XVIin Recent Literature. 121 



I9OI. J J. A* A 



and what are known generally as ' Picarian ' birds, or Sharpe's Orders 

 XXVIII-XXXIII, the Woodpeckers standing at the end of the series as a 

 'suborder' Pici of his Piciformes. According to statistics given in the 

 preface, Volume II includes 454 genera and 2861 species, making for the 

 two \olumes 128^ genera and 6487 species. Coinpared with Gray's ' Hand 

 list ' of 1871, we have an estimated increase of about 500 genera and 1500 

 species during the thirty years that have passed since the publication of 

 Gray's work. 



Dr. Sharpe calls attention to his having "reverted to the old-fashioned 

 name of Cypselus for the Swifts, instead of Apus of Scopoli," affirming : 

 " For my own part I gladly accept any excuse which restores such a well- 

 known name as Cypselus." His excuse is that Scopoli used the name 

 Apos for a group of Crustacea in the same work in which he employed 

 Apus for the Swifts, Apos also having some 80 pages precedence. 

 Although doubtless words of wholly different origin, their 'correct' 

 latinization, it is claimed, would give the same form, Apus, for both. But 

 the two names were not thus written originally, and were enough differ- 

 ent in form to give no real inconvenience. It is here, as in so man^- 

 other cases, only the ' emendation ' rule that gives rise to trouble. But 

 Dr. Sharpe would even go further, and, citing the case of Pica and Picus, 

 says, " but I think that even in this case it may perhaps be better to sup- 

 press Pica as the generic name of the Magpies ; " yet, in speaking of 

 Cypselus, a few lines later, he says, " and I can only regret that equally 

 good reasons cannot be found to replace some of the old-fashioned generic 

 names which recent research proves to have been antedated." Although 

 Pica comes into the category of " old-fashioned generic names," we fear 

 its fate when our author reaches it in the ' Hand-list.' — J. A. A. 



Dubois's ' Synopsis Avium.' — Since our notice of Part I of this useful 

 work (Auk, XVII, p. 81), Parts II, III and IV ^ have appeared, carrying 

 the work to p. 288 and pi. vi. Part II contains the Pici, Heterodactyl?e, 

 Amphibohe, Anisodactyhe, and Macrochires; Part III, the Macrochires, 

 Tracheophonie, and Oligomyodse ; Part IV, the T\rannidae, Hirundini- 

 d?e, Ampelidse, Parainythiidie, and part of the Muscicapidce. The number 

 of genera thus far treated is 747, and the number of species, 4014, with 

 909 additional subspecies. As shown hy the names of the groups "just 

 cited, the nomenclature of the higher groups is very different from that 

 employed in the British Museum ' Hand-List,' and the method of treat- 

 ment is also quite different, Dubois's ' Sj'nopsis ' being closely modelled 

 after Gray's 'Hand-list'; but it gives fuller references, and being well 

 brought down to date, will prove a most helpful manual of refei-ence for 

 all workers in systematic ornithology. We are glad to see the work 



1 Facicule II, 1900, pp. 81-160, pi. ii; Fascicule III, 1900, pp. i6i-2j4, pU. 

 iii and iv ; Fascicule IV, 1900, pp. 225-288, pll. v and vi. 



