Becently pitblis/ied Ornithological Works. 109 



birds, hitherto either altogether undescribed, or imperfectly 

 known. Three uncoloured plates accompany the text. 



27. Reischek on the Birds of the Chicken Islands. 



[Notes on Zoological Researches made on the Chicken Islands, East 

 Coast of the North Island. By Andreas Reischek ; communicated by 

 Professor von Haast. Ph.D. Trans. & Proc. New-Zealand Inst. xiv. 

 p. 274.] 



About 20 species of New-Zealand birds are to be met with 

 on the Chicken Islands on the east coast. Anthornis me- 

 lanura, nearly extinct on the mainland, is " still of frequent 

 occurrence^' there. Three Petrels, Procellaria gouldi, P. 

 cooki, and Pvffinus gavius, " live in holes dug out by the 

 celebrated Tuatara lizard {Sphenodon j)unctatus) "\ 



28. Report on the Australian Museum for 1881. 



[New South Wales Australian Museum. Report of the Trustees for 

 1881. Presented to Parliament pursuant to Act 17 Yict. No. 2. Sect. 9.] 



This report, for a copy of which, we believe, we are in- 

 debted to Mr. E. P. Ramsay's courtesy, gives a flourishing 

 account of the Institution, in which much scientific work 

 seems to have been done during 1881. The appendix gives, 

 among the additions, the names of a large number of birds, 

 obtained by presentation, by purchase, and by the employ- 

 ment of collectors. 



29. Report of the Committee for Stations of Observation of 

 the Birds of Germany. 



[Jahresbericht (1880) des Ausschusses fiir Beobachtungsstatiouen der 

 Vogel Deutschlands. J. f. O. 1882, p. 18-110.] 



The fifth Report of this Committee enumerates 280 dif- 

 ferent species of birds which, during the time from Nov. 

 1879 to Nov. 1880, have been observed in Germany and 

 Austria. INIany of the observations contain very useful hints as 

 regards the migration and habits of certain birds, e. g. Hirundo 

 rvstica, Scolopax rusticola, Grus communis; likewise interest- 

 ing is the number of Ducks {Anas crecca, A. penelope, and A. 



