igig.'l Rtceiitly published Ornit.hohyicul Wurks, 775 



nomenclature is tending to staljility. He must not forget 

 that Ornithology is but one branch of Zoology, and that no 

 settlement will finally stand that is not pretty generally 

 accepted. 



Among the accounts of the diflPereiit species, it should be 

 noted that Polophilns is accepted instead of Centropus for 

 the Australian Coucal. A new subspecies melvUlensis is 

 proposed (from Melville Island), and macrourus is taken to 

 cover heatsi. 



The vohime finishes with the Lyre-Birds, equally wonder- 

 ful in their ajjpearance and habits. This curious Order 

 is left in its usual place and precedes the Passeriform Birds ; 

 but it is only fair to Mr. Mathews to say that he dissents to 

 this position, and thinks that the resemblances may be due 

 to convergence, and not to affinity. To those who take this 

 view, the difficulty at once arises ot: explaining the bird^s 

 powers of song. Atrichia, of course, presents difficulties 

 also, but is, in this work, to be taken later, as a degenerate 

 Passerine form. 



A separate genus is allotted to each species of Plenum, 

 for the specific title iiov(B-]toUundi(B is made to cover three 

 subspecies from New South Wales and Victoria, so that 

 only the northernmost form alberti stands apart, in the 

 genus Harriiuhitea of Mr. Mathews' 1912 List. The male 

 has no long curved outer rectrix, as may be seen from the 

 plate given, another plate shewing the tails in the genus 

 Menura. A subspecies riifa is still recognised. 



Globicera pacijica queenslandica and Psephotellus chryso- 

 pterygius nova are now figured as new and extremely rai'e 

 forms from northern Queensland, and several notes added. 

 In these Tavistockia is proposed Hor Loxia guttata Shaw; but 

 here the details must be consulted by the reader interested 

 in Steganoplenra forms. 



Finally, tl)ree more Procelhiriiform birds, Reinholdia rein- 

 holdi, Fterodroiiia inexpectatu. and Diomedea chionoptera, are 

 figured, with information from sources later than the 

 publication of Vol. ii., — the first because the specimen 



3 h2 



