422 Mr. R. B. Sharpe on Dr. von Heuglin's 



of obtaining an insight into the habits of the birds, which lends 

 an additional charm to his writings. These field-observations 

 are perhaps the most original part of the book ; for it is plain 

 from internal evidence that the author had at his side proof- 

 sheets of the recently published " Vogel Ost-Afrikas ^' of Drs. 

 Finsch and Hartlaub, from which many of the scientific data 

 have been derived. In future years the student might wonder 

 at finding the " Vogel Ost-Afrikas," which has appeared in the 

 present year 1870, quoted in various ornithological publications 

 bearing the date 1869; and it is therefore well to state that this 

 great work was more than a year in printing, and that the 

 authors, with the utmost liberality, distributed proof-sheets to 

 many of their friends ; so that the book is often cited in my own 

 '' Monograph of the Alcediniche," Mr. Gray's " Hand-List of 

 Birds,'' and the work now under notice, for some time before 

 it was actually published. Dr. von Heuglin has largely availed 

 himself of the privilege thus accorded to him, and there can be 

 no doubt of the benefit which the scientific portion of his book 

 has thereby received. 



It is a matter of rejoicing that the present work, so far as it 

 has proceeded, relieves Dr. vou Heuglin from the stigma attach- 

 ing to the authorship of the unsatisfactory " Systematische 

 Uebersicht der Vogel Nord-Ost-Afrika's," published in the Re- 

 ports of the Vienna Academy in 1856. 



Dr. von Heuglin's present list of Vulturida should be col- 

 lated with the remarks given by Mr. Blyth in his "Commen- 

 tary on Dr. Jerdon's ' Birds of India ' " (Ibis, 1866, pp. 232- 

 234), a paper which seems hardly to have been sufficiently 

 studied. Thus Neophron ginginianus is united to N. percno- 

 pterus, which consequently is said to range into India, whereas 

 the Indian bird is now, I believe, generally admitted to be dis- 

 tinct, and bears the former name. Again, Vultur nubicus is 

 referred to V. auricularis, a proceeding about which there still 

 remains some doubt, though I would also remark that the V. 

 occipitalis oi^\x\'c\\e\\'\^ unquestionably the V. chincou of Daudin 

 (Tr. d'Orn. ii. p. 12), the latter name thus having a priority of 

 more than twenty years. 



I regard it as a mistake (p. 96) to cite Falco babylonicus as a 



