Recently puhllshed Ornithological JVorks. \77 



been derived. Moreover^ lie has a very large collection 

 of skins of Australian Birds, which should enable him 

 to describe with accuracy the changes of plumage from the 

 immature to the adult stage. He also employs at least one 

 collector in every State of the Commonwealth, who con- 

 tiimally forwards fresh consignments of material, with notes 

 on the colours of those parts so apt to fade in preserved 

 specimens. 



Under each genus the author gives the synonymy, a short 

 diagnosis, and a statement of distribution, followed by a 

 key to the species. Similar details are to be found under 

 the head of each species, with a full description, where 

 possible, of the adult, the immature bird, and the chick. 

 Details of the nest, eggs, and time of incubation are 

 followed by a life-history of the bird and the literature 

 dealing with it, long quotations being given from the 

 accounts of actual observers. The plates, drawn by 

 Keulemans, are good examples of that clever draughts- 

 man's art. 



In this part — which includes the Emus, the Cassowary, 

 the Mound-builders, the Quails, and the Hemipodes — we 

 may draw special attention in the first place to the four 

 Emus, never previously figured in the same work. The 

 Tasmanian form, now considered snbspecifically distinct 

 from that of the continent, is figured for the first time ; 

 while the King Island Emu is finally separated from that 

 of Kangaroo Island as Dromceus minor, and a reproduction 

 of Lesueur's plate in Peron^'s ' Voyage ' is given, being one 

 of the figures which Mr. Mathews considers to represent it. 

 The letterpress must, howevei-, be consulted for full details, 

 and also for accounts of the other birds included in this 

 part, to which space does not permit us to do more than 

 refer to in passing. 



Turnix olivii, of which only a single specimen is known, 

 is also figured here ; while it is claimed that the account 

 now given of the life-histories of the Emus and Mound- 

 builders in particular will clear up a good deal of mis- 

 apprehension. 



SKR. IX. VOL. v. N 



