Dr. G. Hartlaub on the Ornithology of Madagascar. 385 



others, whose exact generic position remains equally undecided. 

 — Sonnerat, in his ^ Voyage k FInde orientale/ describes five spe- 

 cies of Madgascar birds, one of which, Ploceus nelicourviy is men- 

 tioned by no later voyager. — In the 'Proceedings of the Committee 

 of Science and Correspondence of the Zoological Society ^ for 1830 

 and 1831 are several extracts from the Reports of the ' Societe 

 d'Histoire naturelle de File Maurice,' especially by the Secre- 

 tary of this Society, Jules Desjardins. They contain among other 

 things the systematic names of some birds of Madagascar, but 

 apparently leave the determination of them in doubt; for to 

 enumerate Corvus dauricus among the winged inhabitants of that 

 island, sounds almost as incredible as if any one were to assure 

 us that Struthio camelus lives on the sandy plains of Brandenburg, 

 The occurrence of " Cuculus canorus '^ is also very improbable, 

 and still more so that of the European quail, " Tetrao coturnioc/' 



The famous traveller Dr. Andrew Smith has described several 

 birds of Madagascar in the ' South African Quarterly Journal,' 

 as well as in his ' South African Zoology,' a work as yet un- 

 finished, and not to be had from the booksellers, though the 

 author has communicated some copies of it to his friends. These 

 birds came to his hands during his long residence at Cape-town, 

 chiefly through the means of the well-known ^' naturalist e- 

 voyageur " Jules Verreaux. On his authority we have introduced 

 Strix hirsuta into our catalogue. — In the 3rd volume of the 

 ^ Memoires de la Societe d'Histoire naturelle de Strasbourg,' 

 Victor Sganzin, an officer stationed in the French settlements of 

 St. Marie and Tintingue on the east coast, has published a trea- 

 tise on the Birds and Mammals there observed, which is in many 

 respects important and interesting. He gives a list of the French 

 and Madagascar names of about 70 species, adds short, and un- 

 fortunately very insufficient, descriptions, and communicates 

 many valuable remarks on their mode of life. We do not deny 

 the utility of this work, although we have been able to extract 

 but little for our present object, as Sganzin in compiling it seems 

 to have been wholly deprived of the requisite literary materials. 

 He refers almost exclusively to BufFon, and endeavours, often 

 with little success, to recognize his birds in the descriptions of 

 that author. The species which he introduces as new must 

 nevertheless be regarded as only nominal, and must be excluded 

 from systematic catalogues, for neither their generic position nor 

 their specific individuality can be established with any certainty 

 from the descriptions which are appended. — At the meeting of the 

 Paris Academy of Sciences on April 9, 1838, 1.GeojQFroy St.Hilaire 

 read the descriptions of three new and remarkable genera of birds 

 from Madagascar, Oriolia Bernieri, Mesites variegata^ and Phi- 

 lepitta sericea. He had previously described tv/o other neur 



Ann. &^^ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. il 27 



