Recently published Ornithological Works. 569 



manner. After mentioning tlie principal schemes put forward 

 since the demohtion of the Cuvierian system, and acknow- 

 ledging the " exceptional credit " due to Mr. Seebohm 

 for his " absolute diagnostic characters," Dr. Mivart gives 

 us his own ideas of the leading groups of birds, as culled 

 from previous authorities, and divides the class into 18 

 Orders, of which 17 are Carinate and 1 Ratite, A con- 

 cluding table gives a list of the genera in each family and 

 subfamily, with the approximate number of species in each 

 genus. Lastly we may note that the casual errors in the 

 volume seem to be exceptionally few. The Oven-bird (p. 118), 

 though it may occasionally " burrow in the ground," is more 

 notorious for its huge oven-like nest made of hardened clay ; 

 a V is omitted after F in the description of fig, 141 (p. 138) ; 

 the specific name of Odontopteryx is toliapicus, not toliapus 

 (p. 237) ; and CathartcB (p. 271) is the correct plural of 

 Cathartes. On the whole we can cordially recommend the 

 ' Elements of Ornithology ' as containing a mine of modem 

 information on the subject of birds, compressed into a small 

 compass. 



109. Packard^ s 'Labrador Coast J 



[The Labrador Coast: a journal of two summer cruises to that region, 

 with notes on its early discovery, on the Eskimo, on its physical 

 geography, geology, and natm-al history. By Alpheus Spring Packard, 

 M.D., Ph.D., &c. New York and London : 1891.] 



Dr. Packard has reprinted in an octavo volume the 

 account of the collections and observations made in Labrador 

 in his student-days, and has added thereto a summary of the 

 results of more recent explorations, so as to form a kind of 

 scientific guide to the Labrador coast which will be very 

 useful to future travellers. Chapters are devoted to the 

 geology, zoology, and botany of the country. The ' List 

 of Birds of Labrador,' compiled by Mr. L. M. Turner, and 

 published in the ' Proceedings of the U. S. National Museum ■" 

 for 1885, has been " revised and brought down to date^' 

 by Mr. Allen. It enumerates 208 species, to which one is 

 added upon the authority of Dr. Robert Bell of the Canadian 



