1922.] Recenthj published Ornithological JVorh. 719 



the editorship of Dr. Blanforcl, was publislied in 1889, and 

 the fourth and last by Dr. Blanford himself in 1898. Nearly 

 twenty-five years:, therefore, have elapsed since that excellent 

 work appeared — a model of what a regional avifauna should 

 consist of. Sir Arthur Shipley, the present Editor of the 

 ' Fauna,^ was well advised to entrust the preparation of the 

 much needed new edition to Mr. Stuart Baker, who has so 

 frequently during the last ten years shown his capacity for 

 sucli a task. 



The chief change which will be noticed in the new edition 

 is the adoption of the trinomial system, which lias added 

 largely to the number of birds to be described, that is, 

 to the total number of subspecies, though it has reduced 

 the number of species, for many of those forms formerly 

 reckoned as such, have been relegated to subspecific rank. 

 The other points in which a change Avill be noted is the 

 correction of many nomenclatural errors, rendered necessary 

 if the rules of nomenclature are strictly adhered to, and tiie 

 absence of the synonymy and references which took np so 

 much space in the first edition. This and tlie use of 

 l)riefer descriptions has enabled Mr. Baker to give additional 

 room to field-notes, and to describe briefly the nests and 

 eggs of most of the forms. 



In the matter of classification Mr. Baker has relied 

 mainly on Dr. Gadow's work as set forth in Bronn^s 

 ' Tierreiehs.' He lias also availed himself of the advice of 

 Mr. W. P. Pycraft. On the other hand he has, anyhow 

 in the present volume, kept the families arranged in the 

 same order in which they were placed in the first edition, 

 though he has raised to family rank the Paridae, Paradox- 

 ornithidse, and Pycnonotidae, included by Gates in the 

 Corvidfe and Crateropodid:e respectively. 



The present volume contains descriptions of 373 forms 

 including species and subspecies, and carries us through the 

 Crows, Tits, Hill-Tits, Nuthatches, Timaliine birds, Bulbuls, 

 Creepers, and Wrens. It contains aDout half the families 

 dealt with in the first volume of the obi edition, so wc may 

 expect the present one to extend to about eight volumes 



8 B 2 



