^"Is^^^J Recent Literature. 237 



this country by the iS[acmilhxn Company of New York ; and repeat our 

 ah-eadj expressed opinion that it is the best book ever written about 

 birds. No ornithologist, no person who desires or intends to become one, 

 can afford to be without it. We wish that we could record our conviction 

 that its reception by the public will be according to its merits; but that 

 seems improbable, for mediocrit\' has no means of measiu'ing pre- 

 excellence. 



Recognizing fully, as we do, the inexorable limits of a single volume, 

 we have no disposition to find fault with anything that this ' Dictionary ' 

 does not contain ; and even if the principles upon which Professor 

 Newton has made up his alphabet are not always clear to us, we are quite 

 ready to believe them judicious, or best for the end he had in view. We 

 are thankful for all that is implied by the admission of our Koel or our 

 Paauw, though we may have to look elsewhere for the difference, if any 

 there be, between a Thrush-Titmouse and a Titmouse-Thrush. It is 

 enough to add that we are not here concerned with a Giebel, but with a 

 Newton ; and long-protracted lexicographic work of oin- own has satisfied 

 us that the author need not have recorded any reason for moulding the 

 main body of his treatise dictionary-wise — not even so good a reason as 

 the following (prefatory Note, p. vii) : 



"I would say that the alphabetical order has been deliberatelv adopted 

 in preference to the taxonomic because I entertain grave doubt of the 

 validity of any systematic arrangement as yet put forth, some of the later 

 attempts being in my opinion among the most fallacious, and a good deal 

 worse than those they are intended to supersede." 



Considering the attention already bestowed upon Parts I-III of the 

 'Dictionary' by a competent critic ("J. A. A."), w^hose final oflice we here 

 usurp at his own instance, and agreeing cordially with the tenor of his 

 i-eviews, we may confine ourselves in the remarks which follow to con- 

 sideration of Part IV, which carries the alphabet from Shcathbill to 

 Zygodactyli — why not to Zygoma being explicable as above. It would be 

 unnecessary, even were it reasonably practicable within the limits of a 

 review, to scrutinize the list of entries in detail; especiallv as there is 

 much we wish to say regarding the ' Introduction '. Suffice it to observe 

 no falling off, whether in fullness, accuracy, or elegance of treatment, 

 from the high standard of excellence set in the beginning, but rather the 

 reverse; for, as is usual in similar cases — we cannot say, in such cases, 

 because this one stands alone — the work crescit eundo, and many of its 

 most notable articles fall in the latter part of the alphabet. Opening Part 

 IV at random, we happen upon Toucan, p. 976, followed by Touraco, 

 pp. 979-982, both being among the longer articles. These two words have 

 histories which go back in the one case to 1668 at least, in the other 

 beyond 1743; the birds themselves have been known still longer under 

 other names ; and each belongs to a notable family. Their treatment is a 

 fair sample of Professor Newton's conspicuous ability in so handling 

 subjects, both historically and ornithologically, as to convey the most 



