Recently published Ornithological Works. 439 



55. Lansdell on Birds from Central Asia. 



[Chinese Central Asia, a ride to Little Tibet. By Henry Lansdell, 

 D.D. 2 vols. London, 1893.] 



Dr. Lansdell, the well-known '^ pioneer of missionary 

 enterprise " in Central Asia, did not neglect the oppor- 

 tunities of collecting specimens of Natural History which he 

 met with during his journey through Chinese Turkestan in 

 1888. In ^' districts little known to Science " 295 specimens 

 of birds and a number of reptiles, fishes, and insects were 

 collected. The birds were determined by Mr. Dresser, and 

 are specified in an Appendix ; they are referred to about 70 

 species, of which the exact dates and localities are given. 

 Several passages about birds also occur in Dr. Lansdell's 

 interesting narrative, from which we cull the following notice 

 of the habits of Podoces (vol. i. p. 392) : — 



" Those we saw were always in the desert and sandy places, 

 but I think not always in pairs, as Henderson observed near 

 Sanju. They moved about from one sand-hill to another, and 

 impressed themselves on my memory by the speed at which 

 they ran. They were slow to rise on the wing, but would 

 lead me a chase for hundreds of yards, and generally suc- 

 ceeded in keeping out of range till I shot my first not far 

 from Chadir-Kul. Mr. Shaw, it seems, found them good 

 eating. I did not try them, but my men, regarding the 

 capture as a prize, said that its liver, I think, was used 

 by them as medicine. The only Podoces m my collection 

 that reached England was determined as that of Biddulph 

 (P. biddi(lphi) ." 



56, Mat hew on the Birds of Somerset. 



[A Revised List of the Birds of Somerset. By the Rev. Murray A. 

 Mathew, M.A., F.L.S. Reprinted from the Proc. Somerset Archoeol.and 

 Nat. Hist. Soc. xxxix. 1893.] 



The late Mr. Cecil Smithes ' Birds of Somerset ' was 

 admirably designed to foster a taste for ornithology among 

 the sportsmen (and there are many) of that interesting 

 county, and it is to be regretted that the author did not live 

 to bring out a second edition of the work originally published 



