1920.] Recently published Ornithological. Works. 507 



and may possil)ly contriliutc characters of value in the 

 classification of l)irds, as may also some of the other 

 nppeai'ances of i\\e fundus ocnli. The other varying feature 

 of the bird's eye is the position of the macula iutea or spot 

 of perfect vision. In some cases there may be no apparent 

 macula Iutea at all; in other cases there are one or two of 

 these spots, and it is among the birds which have the most 

 perfect vision that two spots are developed. This is specially 

 the case with the Accipitrine birds, which are able to adjust 

 their eyes to monocular vision or to stereoscopic binocular 

 vision at will, by the use of the two well-developed macuhe. 



In addition to the paintings re[)roduced in colour, tiiere 

 are a great number of figures in the text elucidating the 

 form of the pccten and the variation in the position of 

 the macula. 



The author believes that the eye of the bird is the most 

 advanced and most highly specialized of all the organs o£ 

 vision found in the class of Vertelu'ates, and that a study 

 of the appearance of the back of the eye in healthy birds 

 '^ may well furnish data for a classification of Aves ranking 

 in importance witli other taxononiic indications.''^ Whether 

 we agree with tiiis conclusion or not, we may heartily 

 congratulate Colonel Wood on having given ns new light 

 on a comparatively unknown department of ornithology, 

 and of having enshrined it in a worthy and handsome 

 volume. 



List of other Ornithological Publications received. 



Gladstone, II. S. A Naturalist's Calendar, kept by Sir AVilliam 



Jardine. 

 KuRODA, N. Descriptions of three new Birds from tlie southern islands 



of Japan {cf. Ibis, 1919, p. 547). 

 Mathews, G. M. Austral Avian Record. (Vol. iii. no. 8.) 

 Auk. (Vol. xxxvi. no. 4 ; Vol. xxxvii. no. 1. ) 

 Avicultural Magazine. (Vol. x. nos. 12-14 ; Vol. xi. Nos. I, 2.) 

 Bird-Notes. (Ser. 3, Vol. ii. nos. 11, 12.) 

 British Birds. (Oct.-Uec. 1919; Jan.-Mar. 1920.) 

 Canadian Naturalist. (Vol. xxxiii. nos. 4-6.) 

 Condor. (Vol. xxi. no. o.) 

 Emu. (Vol. xix. pts. l-o.) 



