476 Recent Ornithohyical Publications. 



Ornithologists who wish to understand by what toeans a bird 

 flies, cannot do better than consult the elaborate and masterly 

 treatise of Dr. Pettigrew, lately published in the ' Transactions 

 of the Linnean Society,' which is one of the most valuable papers 

 that have for a long time appeared in the publications of that 

 venerable body^. Many persons would, of course, readily 

 declare that a bird flies by means of its wings; but, to judge 

 from the numerous mistaken theories which have, at one time or 

 another, been given to the world, few would be able to explain 

 correctly the mechanical principles on which the wings act. 

 This Dr. Pettigrew seems to have done most successfully ; and 

 we have to thank him greatly for the care he has bestowed on 

 the study. The paper is a long one, and to furnish such an 

 abstract of it as would do justice to the subject is more than is 

 in our power with the limited space now at our disposal. We 

 must simply be content with referring our readers to the essay, 

 which is of the most comprehensive kind. Beginning with loco- 

 motion on land, the author goes on to treat of locomotion on 

 and under water, until, arriving at locomotion in air, he considers 

 the phsenomena and principles of Flight in the various classes of 

 the animal kingdom endowed with that faculty. We do not 

 profess to be well acquainted with the literature of the subject ; 

 but we observe with pleasure the recognition accorded by Dr. 

 Pettigrew to the observations of Captain F. W. Hutton on the 

 Albatros, as communicated by him to this journal (Ibis, 1865, 

 pp. 294-298), wherein, if we are not mistaken, the true explana- 

 tion of that bird's sailing properties was first enunciated. This 

 interesting treatise is most clearly written, and is illustrated by 

 a number of admirable figures. 



2. Dutch. 



We have received the Third Part of Messrs. Schlegel and 

 Pollen's work on the Fauna of Madagascar and the neighbouring 

 islandsf, which apparently brings to an end the ornithological 



* On the Mechanical Appliances by which Flight is obtained in the 

 Animal Kingdom. By James Bell Pettigrew, M.P. Trans. Linn. 

 Soc. xxvi. pp. 197-277j pis. xii.-xv. 



t Recherches sur la Faune de Madagascar et de ses Dependances, d'apres 



