230 Recent Literature. [A Uk i 



Appendix II is an 'Extract from the Diary of the Visit to Kolguev in 

 1902 of Mr. S. A. Buturlin,' and contains much interesting information 

 respecting not only the geese of this far-off locality but of its abundant 

 and varied bird life. 



Mr. Frohawk's excellent colored plates of the Geese and their bills 

 (three plates of bills) adds greatly to the value and beauty of Mr. 

 Alpheraky's exceedingly important monograph, of interest alike to the 

 ornithologist and the sportsman, and which will long remain a standard 

 source of information on the subject to which it relates. — J. A. A. 



Oberholser on Birds from East Africa. 1 — About 26 species or sub- 

 species are here listed, with critical comment on most of them. One sub- 

 species is described as new. The comparisons are mainly of Mombara 

 birds with others from Taveta and Mount Kilmanjaro. — J. A. A. 



Schiebel on the Phylogeny of the" Species of Lanius. — This is an 

 attempt, as explained in the title, 2 to trace back to a common origin the 

 various species of Shrikes, of which some forty or more species are cur- 

 rently recognized, besides numerous subspecies, by means of coloration 

 resemblances — the pattern of coloration and color, and the coloration of 

 the young in relation to that of the adults. The species can be arranged 

 in sequence, or series, along about seven principal lines, which seem to con- 

 verge toward a common or ancestral type. Coincidence of certain phases 

 of coloration with particular geographic regions is an interesting feature 

 here brought out. The phylogenetically oldest type, or his 'Typus 

 primitivus,' is found in eastern and Central Asia, and is separable into 

 two groups of species. His 'Typus excubitiformis ' occupies northern 

 Europe, northern Asia, and northern North America. To the west and 

 southwest his 'Typus primitivus' merges into his 'Typus indo-malayicus,' 

 and this again, further south and west, into a 'Typus africanus,' separable 

 into three minor groups. 



The subject is discussed in great detail and abounds in points of interest. 

 It is illustrated with eight plates, the first being in black and white to show 

 details of pattern in feather markings; the others are in color, for compari- 

 son of pattern and tints in the different groups of species, some thirty 

 species being illustrated by about forty figures, drawn from the side, from 

 cabinet skins, for effective and convenient comparison. — J. A. A. 



1 Notes on Birds from German and British East Africa, By Harry C. Oberholser, 

 Assistant Ornithologist, Depart, of Agriculture. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., Vol. XXX, 

 1906, pp. S01-S11. 



2 Die Phylogenese der Lanius Arten. Untersuchun^en tiber die gegenseitige 

 Abstammung samtlicher Arten der echten Wiirger auf Grund der Zeich-nungsent- 

 wicklung der Federkleides. Von Dr. Phil. Guido Schiebel. Journ. fur Ornithol., 

 1900, pp. 1-77 und 161-219, mit 7 farbigen und 1 Schwarzdruck-Tafel und 2 Skizzen 

 im Text. Also separate, Price 8 marks. 



