460 Recent hj published Ornitholoyicul JVorks. 



birds made some years ago by Dr. H. Marmottan, which is 

 now exhibited in the galleries of the Museum d'histoire 

 naturelle in Paiis, M. Meuegaux has endeavoured to assign 

 to each species the name which belongs to it under the law 

 of strict priority. We notice that although he calls the 

 Song-Thrush Turdus philo7tielus, he cannot bring himself to 

 make the Redwing Turdus niusiciis, but in most cases he 

 appears to follow the nomenclature of Dr. Hartert. 



As the greater number of the specimens catalogued were 

 taken in France and the collection is a very complete one, 

 the work forms a nearly complete list of the Birds of France. 



Matheivs' Birds of Australia. 



[Tlie Birds of Australiu. By Gregory M. Matliews. Vol. ii. pt. /), 

 pp. 477-527, pis. 121-124 (Jan. 1913) ; vol. iii. pt. 1, pp. 1-104, pis. 125- 

 137 (April 1913). London (Witheiby), 4to.] 



In these parts two points are again particularly notice- 

 able — the careful search for the earliest available name of 

 each bird, and the reproduction of original descriptions 

 which have been more or less lost to sight. Witli the Petrels 

 we have left behind us the chief of Solander's accurate 

 diagnoses, but Mr. Mathews continues to earn our gratitude 

 by examining those of Lesson in the ' Echo du Monde 

 eavant ' and others of later date. Moreover, in discussing 

 the several genera and species, he takes into consideration 

 for purposes of comparison the forms which do not occur in 

 Australia, while under the head of habits he gives us a good 

 deal of fresh information from his correspondents. 



It is somewhat difficult to criticise the details in the text, 

 as the author's idea of what constitutes a species diifers 

 considerably from that of the world in general ; but we 

 think that he is quite right in assigning much importance 

 to colour as well as to structure, while he might truly add 

 that habits also may be an indication of affinities. 



In vol. ii. pt. 5, we have the conclusion of the Lariformes 

 with the family Catharactidse, which Mr. Mathews uses for 

 the Skuas from Briinnich's Cat/uiracta. C. antarctica of 

 the Falklands here stands as a subspecies of the northern 



