268 Recently published Ornithological Works. 



narrative^ and many of the birds are provided with MS. names, 

 which are iu most cases, of course, indeterminable. We 

 copy (from p. 208) a short passage on a point as regards 

 the Albatrosses, which seems to be of sonfe interest. It is 

 dated January 6th, 1770, when the ' Endeavour "* was on 

 the coast of New Zealand : — 



" Calm to-day. Shot Procellaria longipes, P. velox, and 

 Diomedea exulans (the Albatross) . I had an opportunity of 

 seeing this last sit upon the water ; and, as it is commonly 

 said by seamen that they cannot in a calm rise upon the 

 wing, I tried the experiment. There were two of them. 

 One I shot dead; the other, which was near it, swam off 

 nearly as fast as my small boat could row. We gave chase 

 and gained a little ; the bird attempted to fly by trying to 

 take off from a falling wave, but did not succeed : I, who 

 was so far off that 1 knew I could not hurt him, fired at him 

 to make his attempts more vigorous ; this had the desired 

 result, for at the third effort he got upon the wing, though 

 I believe that, had it not been for a little swell upon the 

 water, he could not have done it.^^ 



31. Bendire's ' Life- Histories of North- American Birds.' 



[Life-Histovies of Nortli-Ameiican Birds, from the Parrots to the 

 Grackles, with special reference to their Breeding-habits and Eggs, with 

 seven Lithographic Plates. By Charles Bendire, Captain and Brevet- 

 Major, U.S. Army (retired). Vol.11. 4to. Washington : 1895. Smiths. 

 Inst. U.S. Nat. Mus., Special Bulletin.] 



We have received with great pleasure a copy of the second 

 portion of Major Bendii^e's 'Life-Histories of North-American 

 Birds,' the first part of which was issued in 1892 (see ' Ibis,' 

 1893, p. 126). The nature and scope of this excellent piece 

 of work were explained in our notice of the first portion. In 

 the present part are described in a similar way the breeding- 

 habits, nests, eggs, and distribution of the Psittaci, Picaria, 

 Macrochires, and Passeres, down to the end of the Icteridm, 

 according to the order and arrangement of the Code and 

 Check-list of the American Ornithologists' Union. The 

 illustrations consist of seven correctly coloured plates 

 of the eggs of these groups. As in the former case, the 



