250 Recently published Ornithological Works. 



common in the Talaut Islands, comparatively rare in the 

 neighbouring group of Sangir, and unknown in the 

 Celebes. 



39. Kempen on P alias's Sand-Grouse in Northern France. 



[Sejour des Syrrhaptes dans le Nord de la France en 1888. Par Ch. 

 Van Kempen. Bull. Soc. Zool. France, xiii. p. 145, et xiv. p. 18.] 



M. Kempen gives particulars of the occurrence of Syr- 

 rhaptes paradoxus at Dunkirk, St. Omer, and in other localities 

 in the north of France, from May to December 1888. 



40. Lumholtz's Adventures in Queensland. 



[Among Cannibals: an account of Four Years' Travels in Australia 

 and of Camp-Life with the Aborigines of Queensland. By Carl Lum- 

 holtz. London : Murray, 1889.] 



It has been left to a Norwegian naturalist to give us the 

 most graphic and entertaining account that has yet been 

 written of the wilds of the English colony of Queensland 

 and its native tribes. Mr. Lumholtz's narrative of his life 

 and adventures in company with the blacks of the Herbert- 

 River district will interest and instruct every one, and his 

 pages are full of information on the animal and vegetable 

 life of the country which he visited. 



Many passages relate to the bird- life of Northern Queens- 

 land, where the avifauna has many peculiarities and possesses 

 a strong Papuan element, as evidenced by the presence of 

 the Cassowary and the Megapode. The playing-place of a 

 rare Bower-bird (Scenopceus dentirostris) was discovered 

 (p. 139) ; the " monotonous and persistent chattering " of 

 the " Towdala " ( Orthonyw spaldingi) was listened to ; the 

 King-Pigeon (Megaloprepia magnifica) was found breeding 

 (p. 214) ; and the beautiful Parrot, Platycercus pulcherrimus, 

 was observed to excavate its nest in the hillocks raised by 

 the Termites or white ants. Numerous other allusions to 

 birds will be found in Mr. Lumholtz's pages, and the whole 

 volume is well worthy of perusal for those who have any 

 taste for natural history. 



