190 Recently piib/ished Ornithulugical IVurks. 



Rhea macrorhyncJia. To this we reply that the two above- 

 named forms are so much alike that it is impossible to 

 decide certainly to which of them Marcgrave refers. We, 

 therefore, think that it would be a great mistake to change 

 the well-known name Rhea americana, wliicli has hitherto 

 been uiiivei'sally adopted for the ordinary species. 



As regards the scientific name of Darwin's Rhea, 

 d'Orbigny's note (Voy. FAmer. Merid. ii. p. 67) states : 

 "Cette espece ales acrotarses couverts de petites plumes; 

 c'est pourquoi je lui ai impose le nom de Rhea pennata!' 

 Tliis shews that he well understood the special character 

 which distinguishes it from R. americana, and we allow that 

 his name has precedence over that of Gould. 



4. Bureau on the Determination of the Age of Partridges. 

 [L'Age des Perdrix : I. La Perdrix Grise. Par le Dr. Louis Bureau- 



Nantes, 1911, pp. 1-129.] 



In tliis paper Dr. Bureau shews us how to ascertain the 

 age of a Common Partridge from a consideration of the 

 structure of the wing, the moult, the gradual loss of the 

 primaries, secondaries, and so forth. Characters are further 

 given to distinguish the male from the female; the various 

 races are touched upon and the weight is also discussed. 

 A great number of statistics is given to elucidate the 

 subject. The regularity of the moult is stated to be very 

 remarkable. Chronometrical tables can consequently be 

 made out, which seem to distinguish the young at various 

 ages from the adult in a more thorough way than has ever 

 been hitherto attempted. This careful and painstaking 

 work is illustrated by thirty-five figures. 



5. ' The Emu: 



[The Emu. A Quarterly Magazine to popularize the Study and Pro- 

 tection of Native Birds. Vol. xi. pts. 1, 2 (July, October, 1911).] 



The first, and one of the most important, o£ the papers in 

 these two parts of our contemporary is on the Bush-birds of 

 New Zealand, by ]\Ir. J. C. INIcLean: it is continued in October 

 and gives a very clear idea of the extent to which the rarer 

 species have been extirpated, while telling us that they are 



