944 Recently pvhh'slu'd Omit/io/of/ical Works. [Ibis, 



Europe or tlie British race, Prunella m. occidentulis. Mr.. 

 Harper describes the Pyrenean bird as new and calls it 

 Prunellu modularis mahbotti^ after Mr. D. C. Mabbott, an 

 American ornithologist who was killed in tlicwar in France. 



Hartert on the Palcearcfic Birds. 



[Die Viig-el tier palaarktisclien Fauna. Von Dr. Ernst llartert. TIeft 

 ix. pp. 1089-1216, Oct. 1914, and Heft x. pp. 1217-1344, Mnreh 1920. 

 J5erliii (Friedlander).] 



We are very glad to receive two parts of Dr. Hartert's 

 great work on Palrearctic birds and to hear that there is 

 every prospect of the second volume being shortly completed. 

 The manuscript is, we understand, all ready for printing and 

 the concluding parts will be issued as soon as possible. 



The Hrst of tl-e two parts now noticed was published just 

 after the outbreak of the war and only one co[)3% that in the 

 Bird-room of the Natural History Museum, reached this 

 country at the time of publication. It contains the account 

 of the Birds of Prey except the genus Falco. The tenth 

 part, recently issued, deals witli the Storks and Herons, 

 forming Dr. Hartert's Order Gressores, and the Anseres, in 

 which only one family is recognized. In accordance with 

 Dr. Hartert's well-known views, the limits of many genera 

 are extended beyond the common usage ; for example, the 

 Snow Geese {Chen) arc merged with Aiiser, and all the 

 fresh-water Ducks except the Shoveler and the Mandarin 

 are placed in Anas. The Sacred Ibis bears the generic 

 name Threskiornis , the generic name Ibis being transferred 

 to the Wood Ibis, formerly known as Tantulus. This 

 change, we believe, is inevitable if the rules of zoological 

 nomenclature are to be adhered to, but it seems illogical 

 to call the Ibis family Il)ididce if the generic name Ibis is 

 transferred to the Wood Ibis, which is a true Stork. 



We find two new subspecies tucked away in small [)rint 

 on page 1251 — Butorides striatus degens from the Seychelles, 

 and ti. s. moluccarum from the ]\Ioluccas. In our opinion 

 it would be more convenient to workers if such descrip- 

 tions appeared first in a general Magazine or Journal of 



