llU Recent Literature. [j. 



Auk 



Ml. 



account of the species (pp. 92-338). Part I consists of seven sections, 

 comprising: (1) a historical resume; (2) a list of the principal works and 

 papers on Iceland birds; (3) an account of the author's travels in Iceland, 

 and of bird protection; (4) the topography, and the physical and biologi- 

 cal features of the island; (.">) changes in the bird life of the island within 

 historic times, including an account of the extinction of the Great Auk; 

 (6) derivation of the Icelandic ornis; (7) the economic value of the birds 

 to the inhabitants. Section 6 contains also a briefly annotated list (59 

 species) of the birds of the little island of Grimsey, off the north coast, 

 and another (68 species) of those of the islet Vesmannaeyjar, off the south 

 coast. 



Part II begins with a list of the species authenticated as birds of Iceland, 

 numbering 120, with brief annotations as to their relative abundance and 

 manner of occurrence. The list also includes, but not numbered as a pari 

 of the list, 12 species as of casual or probable occurrence, and the extinct 

 Great Auk. Each is treated, generally at some length, in the following 

 240 pages of the work, including references to previous records of the spe- 

 cies as birds of Iceland, their vernacular names in various languages, their 

 distribution, relative abundance, habits, uses, etc., together with, in many 

 cases, measurements of Iceland specimens, and a statement of the color of 

 bill, feet, and naked soft parts, taken from fresh specimens by the author. 

 The work is thus not only the latest but a most comprehensive and useful 

 treatise on the ornithology of Iceland. The illustrations (half-tone repro- 

 ductions of photographs in the text) include views of the breeding places 

 of a number of species, and the nest and eggs of Megalestris skua, etc., but 

 relate mainly to the physiographic features of the island, and are thus, 

 though rather poorly reproduced, of great assistance in giving a clear 

 impression of the prevailing physical conditions in different parts of the 

 island. — J. A. A. 



Csorgey's Ornithological Fragments from the Manuscripts of Jo- 

 hann Salamon von Petenyi. 1 — Johann Salamon von Petenyi (born 1799. 

 died 1855) was one of the founders of systematic ornithology in Hungary, 

 for many years custodian of the Hungarian National Museum, and a 

 friend of C. L. Prehm, J. F. Xaumann. E. Baldamus, and other eminent 

 ornithologists of his time. He was engaged for many years in gathering 

 material for a comprehensive work on Hungarian birds, but died before 

 it was ready for publication, and discoveries of species new to the Hun- 

 garian ornis first made by him remained unpublished till their rediscovery 

 later by other workers. The fragments of his manuscripts, rescued from 

 oblivion, and here brought together and published half a century after 



'Ungarishe Ornithologische (Annate | — | Ornithologische Fragmente i aus den 

 Handschriften von [ Johann Salamon Petenyi | Deutsch bearbitet von | Titus 

 Csorgey J Mit einer Einleitung | von | Otto Herman | [Vignette] Gera-Untermhaus | 

 Druck und Verlag von Fr. Eugen KShler | 1905 — Svo, pp. 36+400, frontispiece, 6 

 colored plates, and 10 text cuts. 



