﻿Recently 
  published 
  Ornithological 
  Works. 
  457 
  

  

  7Q. 
  Hudson's 
  'Idle 
  Days 
  in 
  Patagonia.' 
  

  

  [Idle 
  Days 
  in 
  Patagonia. 
  By 
  W. 
  H. 
  Hudson, 
  C.M.Z.S. 
  London 
  : 
  

   Chapman 
  and 
  Hall, 
  1893.] 
  

  

  This 
  is 
  not 
  at 
  all 
  a 
  " 
  bird-book 
  " 
  in 
  the 
  ordinary 
  accepta- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  the 
  ternij 
  but 
  it 
  contains 
  numerous 
  allusions 
  to 
  and 
  

   illustrations 
  of 
  birds, 
  and 
  will 
  be 
  read 
  with 
  pleasure 
  by 
  those 
  

   who 
  have 
  appreciated 
  the 
  author's 
  charming 
  volume 
  ' 
  The 
  

   Naturalist 
  in 
  La 
  Plata.' 
  

  

  The 
  present 
  work 
  does 
  not 
  contain 
  a 
  complete 
  account 
  of 
  

   the 
  author's 
  visit 
  to 
  the 
  Rio 
  Negro 
  district 
  of 
  Patagonia 
  

   (which 
  took 
  place 
  as 
  long 
  ago 
  as 
  1871), 
  but 
  is 
  made 
  up 
  of 
  a 
  

   series 
  of 
  essays 
  based 
  on 
  his 
  experiences 
  during 
  that 
  excursion. 
  

   Some 
  of 
  these 
  have 
  been 
  already 
  published, 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  com- 
  

   pletely, 
  in 
  certain 
  Reviews 
  and 
  Magazines, 
  but 
  are 
  now 
  

   combined 
  into 
  a 
  harmonious 
  whole. 
  As 
  already 
  stated, 
  

   many 
  allusions 
  to 
  our 
  feathered 
  favourites 
  occur 
  throughout 
  

   the 
  volume, 
  and 
  a 
  whole 
  chapter 
  is 
  devoted 
  to 
  bird-music 
  in 
  

   South 
  America. 
  In 
  this 
  essay 
  the 
  author 
  endeavours 
  to 
  

   prove 
  that 
  the 
  ordinary 
  idea 
  that 
  tropical 
  birds, 
  though 
  they 
  

   doubtless 
  excel 
  those 
  of 
  temperate 
  countries 
  in 
  beauty 
  of 
  

   plumage, 
  are 
  inferior 
  in 
  melody, 
  is 
  erroneous. 
  It 
  is 
  shown, 
  

   on 
  the 
  contrary, 
  that 
  South 
  America 
  at 
  least 
  is 
  " 
  not 
  wanting 
  

   in 
  songsters," 
  the 
  fact 
  being 
  that 
  its 
  ornis 
  comprehends 
  some 
  

   1200 
  Oscines 
  — 
  the 
  section 
  of 
  Passerine 
  birds 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  

   singing-organs 
  are 
  most 
  highly 
  developed. 
  

  

  77. 
  Koenig 
  on 
  the 
  Birds 
  of 
  Tunis. 
  

  

  [Zweiter 
  Beitrag 
  znr 
  Avifauna 
  von 
  Tunis. 
  Von 
  Dr. 
  A. 
  Koenig. 
  8vo. 
  

   Naumburg, 
  1893. 
  (Separatabdruck, 
  J. 
  f 
  . 
  O. 
  1892-93.)] 
  

  

  Dr. 
  Koenig 
  has 
  kindly 
  favoured 
  us 
  with 
  a 
  separate 
  copy 
  

   of 
  his 
  second 
  essay 
  on 
  the 
  birds 
  of 
  Tunis, 
  extracted 
  from 
  the 
  

   'Journal 
  fiir 
  Ornithologie 
  ' 
  for 
  1892 
  and 
  1893, 
  the 
  first 
  

   article 
  on 
  the 
  same 
  subject 
  having 
  appeared 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  

   journal 
  for 
  1888. 
  During 
  the 
  intervening 
  period 
  the 
  author 
  

   has 
  worked 
  hard 
  to 
  make 
  additions 
  and 
  corrections 
  to 
  his 
  

   former 
  account 
  of 
  this 
  interesting 
  avifauna, 
  and 
  in 
  JVTay, 
  

   1891, 
  made 
  a 
  journey 
  to 
  the 
  Beylik 
  for 
  the 
  special 
  purpose 
  

  

  