Recently published Ornithological Works. 645 
on the structure of this anomalous group have been written 
of late years, Mr. Pycraft has not failed to find new points 
on which to enlighten us, and has added much to our 
knowledge of the structure of these birds. He begins 
by describing the pterylosis of the adult Penguin, and 
repudiates the oft-repeated myth that its feathers are 
“ scale-like and reptilian.” In fact, though ‘ unquestion- 
ably degenerate,” they have no more likeness to the scales 
of reptiles than the feathers of other birds. But the 
principal part of the memoir is devoted to the nestling’s 
down and the successive plumages of adolescence, on which 
much new information is given. The syrinx of the Emperor 
Penguin and its intestinal tract are also described and 
figured. 
In the concluding summary Mr. Pycraft reviews tne 
information to be acquired from the remains of fossil 
Penguins recently discovered in Patagonia, New Zealand, 
and Seymour Island, and discusses its bearing on the origin 
and affinities of the group. ‘The Penguins, he says, “ have 
probably descended from birds which possessed full powers 
of flight.’ The Steganopodes must be regarded “as 
representing a common ancestral stock, from which have 
descended the Sphenisci, Colymbi, and Tubinares on the 
one hand, and the Ciconiz, Accipitres, and Anseres on 
the other.” 
100. South African Ornithologists’ Union, Journal of. 
[The Journal of the South African Ornithologists’ Union. Second 
Series. Vol.i. No.1. Pretoria, June 1907. | 
The first number of the new (second) series of the 
‘Journal of the South African Ornithologists’ Union’ was 
published at Pretoria in June last, and contains many 
interesting papers. 
The first article by Mr. A. K. Haagner, who is now chiet 
Editor, contains good contributions to our knowledge of the 
Honey-guides (Indicatoride), both as regards their parasitic 
habits and their bodily structure. The tooth-lke appendages 
on the beak of the nestling in these birds described and 
figured here are, we believe, quite a new discovery and of 
SER. 1X.—VOL. I. 2uU 
