480 Bihliograpliical Notices. 



travellers, seafarers, and explorers, such as Oviedo, Leguat, 

 Dampier and Carteret, as well as with later writers ; while he has 

 scarcely a rival in respect of the birds of the Shakesperean epoch. 

 Under the heading "Extermination" he gives a sadly picturesque 

 summary of the "passing" of many species which formerly 

 inhabited the Mascarene Islands ; among these being not only the 

 comparatively notorious Dodo and the Solitaire, but also an allied 

 Didine bird, as well as at least two species of Parrot, a Dove, a large 

 Coot, and another Ralline bird (the flightless Aphanapteryx), an 

 Owl, a Heron, &c. The abnormal Starling (Frei/ihqms) oi Keunion 

 survived until about forty years ago, and a remnant of tbc Parra- 

 keet {Palceornis exsul) of llodriguez is still awaiting the doom of its 

 predecessors. In the West Indies, owing to the intervention of 

 civilized man, quite as many species have died and made no sign. 

 In our own days the Great Auk or Gare-Fowl has attained a 

 melancholy celebrity, owing to its being classed as a "British" 

 bird and the producer of eggs sold at sensational prices ; but the 

 Labrador Duck, the Phillip-Island Parrot, the Mamo of the Sand- 

 wich I:>lands, and others are quite as worthy of note, though their 

 end has been more obscure. The important article on " Geographical 

 Distribution " covers upwards of fifty pages, and is illustrated by a 

 map showing approximately the six zoogeographical regions ; the 

 number being the same as proposed by Mr. P. L. Sclater in his well- 

 known scheme, but the Palsearctic and Nearctic of the latter are 

 united by Prof. Newton under the heading Holarctic, while a New 

 Zealand Ilegiou is added. Eor this modification strong — and, to 

 our mind, convincing — reasons are adduced. The subject of 

 "Migration" is treated with characteristic caution as regards the 

 broad lines, and even on a matter of detail it is, perhaps, rash on 

 our part to " rush in " with a suggestion that the absence of any 

 evidence as to the halting of the Pted- spotted Bluethroat {Cyanecula 

 suecica) on its transit between Egypt and the shores of the Baltic 

 may be due to the absence of observers along the route adopted by 

 that little bird. Prof. Collett has pointed out that this species 

 reaches its breeding-grounds in Norway from the east, and never 

 follows the western coast-line ; while a glance at the map will 

 show that between the meridians of 28° and 35° E. (a fair " mean ") 

 there is very little chance of any resting-place on passage being 

 noticed. Where are the recorders of Kishineff and Ivieff, of Minsk 

 or Vitebsk ? The western race of Bluethroat with the white spot 

 can be traced resting on its gradual passage northward in spring, and 

 it seems improbable that a form merely differing in respect of its 

 chestnut-coloured spot (in the male) should adopt the violent 

 measure of rushing across Europe, precisely where that continent is 

 broadest and where the congenial natural conditions seem to invite 

 a stay for repose and food. 



The Introduction, which, of course, appeared in Part IV., consists 

 (with its separate Index) of 124 pages, and is a masterly review of 

 the progress of Ornithology fi'om the dawn of science to the present 

 time. Amusement as well as instruction is afforded by the descrip- 



