Recently published Ornithological Works. 461 



Gracula for G. religiosa* and its allies. Some recent au- 

 thorities f have attempted to discard it for " Mainatus" or 

 " Eulabes," without sufficient reason^ as it appears to us. 



86. Schaeck on the Francolins . 



[Monographie des Francolins. Par P. de Schaeck. Mem. Soc. Zool. 

 de France, iv. p. 272, 1891.] 



Tliis is a memoir of some importance, in which the whole 

 of the members of the extensive Gallinaceous genus Franco- 

 linus, comprehending, according to the author, 55 valid 

 species, are reviewed and commented upon, principally from 

 specimens in the French National Collection, so far as they 

 go. After disquisitions on the external and internal cha- 

 racters, habits, and acclimatation of Francolins, the author 

 proceeds to their classification, and discusses the 55 species 

 one after the other, giving synonyms, descriptions, localities, 

 and other particulars in each case. No subdivisions of the 

 genus are given, which should surely be done in such a 

 numerous genus, and Rhizothera (with twelve tail-feathers) 

 and Pternestes (with the throat naked) are included in the 

 middle of the series. Those who want to name their speci- 

 mens of Francolins will therefore, in our opinion, find 

 Mr. Grant's essay on this group (Ibis, 1892, p. 3.2) more 

 practically useful, though it does not enter into so many 

 particulars. It would appear that the Paris Collection does 

 not contain examples of many of the species lately described 

 in Germany, so that M. de Schaeck has not been able to study 

 them satisfactorily. 



87. Sharpens ' Catalogue of Osteological Specimens of Birds.' 



[Catalogue of the Specimens illustrating the Osteology of Vertebrate 

 Animals, Keceut and Extinct, contained in the Museum of the Iloyal 

 College of Surgeons of England. Part III. Class Aves. By R. Bowdler 

 Sharpe, LL.D. 8vo. London: 1891. Pp. 409.] 



Our indefatigable fellow-worker has found time, in the 



* It will be observed that Gracula vvUijiosa is actually the first species 

 mentioned in Linnseus's li.-.t (Syst. Nat. i. p. 104, 1700). 



t Cf. Sharpe, Cat. Birds, xiii. p. 98 ; also ibid. App. p. 007 ; and Gates, 

 Birds Brit. Ind. i. p. 509. 



