Becenthj published Onutholoyical Works. 693 



tlic CharadviidfE he finds a clear diagnosis of the Ringed 

 Pk)ver group very hard to formulate. Again, Avhiie 

 criticizing the attempts of Sliarpe and Ridgway to diagnose 

 the family Scolopacidse, he says that it almost defies defi- 

 nition. Our author, in consequence, takes the view that a 

 multiplicity of genera and subgenera conduces to clearness. 

 The genus j^tjialitis of the British Museum Catalogue 

 (for which he substitutes the name Cliaradrius) is much 

 subdivided. Leucopolius, of Bonaparte, is accepted as a 

 subgenus for ^. maryiaatus, j^. paUidus, JE. alexandrinus, 

 yfj. nivosus, JE. occidentulis, ^^. venustus. jE. collaris, 

 jE. ruficapillas, and yE. pe)-oni ; while two new sul)gencra 

 are proposed, Pernettyva for ^. falklundicus and Hekn- 

 iegialus for jEl. sanctce-helente and yE. jjecuariiis. 



Then Paroayechus is suggested as a new subgenus for 

 Oxyechus placidus, Afroxyechus as a new genus for the 

 African species tricoUaris, bifrontatus and forbesi, and 

 similarly Elseya for the Australian melanops. 



The deserijjtions of the habits of the various birds are 

 admiiable, and Mr. Mathews lays great stress on the study 

 of oology as affording evidence of affinity : he calls special 

 attention to the frequency of erroneous identification of 

 eggs and corrects two cases of it in the British Museum 

 Catalogue. 



In concluding the Charadriidae, he notes that yE. hiaticola 

 Avas erroneously ascribed by Gould to Austr;dia, that he is 

 satisfied that Charadrius rubricollis of Gmelin was described 

 from a specimen of the Red-necked Phalarope, and thiit 

 he is not satisfied that we know the authentic egg of 

 j^. geuffroyi. 



Mr. Mathews sinks his C. cucuUatus turbnyi undtr C. c. 

 tregellasi, his Elsei/a melanops marunyhi under E. m. russata, 

 and in the following family his Cludurliynchus leucocephulus 

 ruttresti under the typical C. leucocephalus. 



In the family Recurvirostridaj, we note that the author 

 replaces Himantopns by the older name Hypsi bates, and 

 gives a new subspecies H. leucucephalus timorensis from 

 Timor, while reducing the New Zealand form to another as 



SElt. X. — VOL. I, 3 A 



