J A 2 Recent Literature. \q^^ 



Pahearctic ornis, as here recognized. As stated in the preface, the work 

 is "primarily intended for the use of field-naturalists and travellers." 

 With their convenience in mind, tiie technicalities, including synonymy 

 and references, ha\e been reduced to small compass, and binomials are 

 employed throughout, even for the forms included as "subspecies." All 

 forms "described under trinomials" have been uniformly excluded as 

 not entitled to any kind of recognition, for the reasons, first, that the 

 author is "in principle a binomialist," and, second, because their recog- 

 nition is difficult for even experts, and their admission "seems calculated 

 rather to puzzle and discourage than to assist the beginner." For this 

 and other reasons the 'Manual' can hardly be considered as a technical 

 treatise, but as a popular handbook for the identification of the species and 

 the more prominent "subspecies." The nomenclature is orthodox from 

 the standpoint of ultra conservatism, through the non-recognition of 

 Linnrean names proposed pj-ior to 1766, in the rejection of specific names 

 that have been adopted for genera, and in the use of emended forms of 

 names instead of the original. To save space in the bibliographical cita- 

 tions, apparently, the name adopted in the text heads the list of refer- 

 ences, regardless of whether the generic element of the name was used for 

 the species by the authors cited or not; but when not so used the name 

 of the author is enclosed in parenthesis, though there appears to be no 

 explanation to this effect. It also seems a little strange to find a species 

 ranged as a subspecies of some other species described many years later, 

 as in the case of Cincliis aqiiaticus., with parallel cases elsewhere. 



In the treatment of the species the English name is given first, then the 

 systematic name, followed by references to the principal works treating 

 of the species (or subspecies, as the case may be) ; then are given its 

 vernacular names in the various countries it inhabits, followed by a short 

 description (generally sufficient, apparentlj-, for identification), a brief 

 statement of its range, and a paragraph or two regarding its habits, 

 including some account of the nest and eggs, the whole occupying about 

 a page. Subspecies are formally distinguished as such by the prefix 

 "subsp." and by use of different type for the name ; they are usually dis- 

 posed of, very properly, in a few lines, by comparison with the species 

 to which they are most allied. The species follow each other in the 

 systematic order of the same author's 'Birds of Europe,' but there are 

 no divisions higher than genera to indicate the limits of families and 

 orders ^ a feature that niight well have been supplied in the interest of 

 the non-scientific reader. The work, however, cannot fail to be of the 

 greatest service to the class of users for which it is avowedly prepared, 

 and also a handy reference book for ornithologists. Indeed, the author 

 is entitled to great credit for having placed before the public such a con- 

 cise and excellent manual of the birds of so vast an area as the Pal^arctic 

 Region. — J. A. A. 



