946 Recently /ju^>/is/i('d Ornitholog'ical Works. [Ibis, 



has endeavoured to index all the generic and subgeneric 

 names proposed for birds up to the end of 1915, with 

 references to Bonaparte's Conspectus, Gray's Hand-list, the 

 Catalogue of Birds, Sharpe's Hand-list, Dubois's Synopsis, 

 and Richmond's three well-known supplementary lists of 

 generic names. 



The list contains 8839 names, while tliat compiled l)y 

 Waterhousc in 1889 contains "over 7000," according to the 

 preface of the work. It seems curious that no allusion is 

 made to the last-named volume, which must surely be well 

 known to the author. 



The present list will undoubtedly be of very great use to 

 all systematic workers, to whom we heartily commend it. 



Matheivs on Australian Birds. 



[Tlie Birds of Australia. By (ircgory ^f. Mathews. Vol. viii. 

 parts i., ii. pp. 1-144, pis. 22. Loudon (Witlierby) : May, June, 

 1920. 4to.] 



The author has now arrived at the Order Passeriformes, 

 on which he gives us a dissertation several pages long. In 

 this, while there is nothing very new, there is much w hich 

 it is well constantly to recall, especially as regards the 

 meaning of the terms genus, s{)ecies, and subs[)ecies_, and 

 the position of such gronps in the Order. 



Mr. Mathews does not wish to ignore anatomical facts, 

 and indeed complains of the lack of such work on aberrant 

 Australian forms ; but he considers that classifications 

 founded solely on anatomy are apt to be misleading, while, 

 as we know, he believes strongly m cohnir pattern as a guide 

 to differentiation, even in the higher groups. He thinks it 

 likely that Australian forms may have to be segregated 

 from their nearest, or ap[)arently nearest, extralimital allies ; 

 but, until the cases come to hand, he follows the families 

 admitted by Sharpe in his Hand-list. 



These parts of tjie work include the Pittidie, Atriehorni- 

 thidse, Hirundinida% and Muscicapidse. In his summary of 

 the first family J\lr. jMathews feels great doubt whether the 

 peculiarities of the syrinx alone are sufficient to make us 



