322 Notices of Ornithological Works. 



out by Mr. Hume ; and no less than 22 coloured plates are 

 devoted to the illustration of the new and rare species. The 

 most interesting discovery is certainly that of two new species 

 of Podoces, called P. hendersoni and P. humilis, both of which 

 are figured. 



Another well-illustrated volume* recently published gives an 

 account of the expedition of the '. Curaipoa ' among the South- 

 Sea Islands in 1865, and a resume of the numerous novelties 

 obtained on this occasion. .For this work Mr. J. L. Brenchley, 

 whose untimely death took place just before the publication 

 of the volume, has put together the results arrived at by 

 various naturalists from an examination of his collections. 

 The birds were originally described by the late Mr. G. R. 

 Gray in the ' Annals of Natural History ' for 1870. In the 

 present volume, of which the ornithological part is likewise by 

 Mr. Gray, the descriptions are repeated, with some additions, 

 and are accompanied by 21 coloured plates drawn by Mr. 

 Smit. 



The second portion of Prof. Sundevall's ' Methodi Natu- 

 ralis Avium disponendarum Tentamen"f; which we have just 

 received, completes this most important work. It contains 

 a complete ornithological system, and gives Latin diagnoses 

 of all groups down to the families and their principal subdi- 

 visions, and should be carefully studied by every ornithologist. 



The original preface and introduction to Prof. SundevalFs 

 work are written in Swedish; but a French translation is 

 added, which will still further extend their usefulness. Prof. 

 SundevalFs primary division of the class of birds is into two 

 " agmina," Psilopades and Ptilopcedes, with reference to 

 the state of the young when first excluded from the egg. This 

 is a well-known division, used by several other authors, but 

 not so exactly characterized as by Prof. Sundevall, and not 

 so appropriately named. These twoagmina, according to our 

 author, contain the following seven Orders : — 



* Jottings during the Cruise of H.M.S. 'Curaeoa' among the South- 

 Sea Islands in 1805. By Julius L. Brenchley, M.A., F.Il.G.S. London : 

 Longmans, Green, & Co., 1873. 



t Stockholm, 1872-73: 1 vol., 8vo, pp. 188. 



