^"I'glg '■] Reviews. 229 



CE. mollis, a frequenter of southern seas, chiefly between south 

 latitudes 20° to 50^ can it really be the species which the 

 Messrs. Layard found breeding " in burrows in great numbers 

 about the summit of Mont Moa, in New Caledonia"? Comer, 

 the collector, is supposed to have secured an Ggg referable to this 

 species when on the far-south island, Gough. Is the same 

 species likely to be found breeding within the tropics as well as 

 within the temperate zone ? While on the subject of breeding- 

 places, it would have been interesting had Dr. Godman men- 

 tioned, in connection with Priofinus cinereus (Great Grey or 

 Brown Petrel), Macquarie Island, where this fine bird was ob- 

 served by Mr. J. Burton for several seasons (see " Nests and 

 Eggs," Campbell, p. 896). 



[" The Birds of North and Middle America." By Robert Ridgway.] 



In continuance of the acknowledgment of this famous work 

 {vide Emu, vol. v., p. 99), part iv. has been received. It contains 

 the following families, namely : — Turdidce — Thrushes ; Zele- 

 doniidcE — Wren-Thrushes ; Mimidc^ — Mocking-Birds ; Sturnidcs 

 — Starlings ; Ploceidce — Weaver-Birds ; Alaudidce — Larks ; 

 Oxyruncid(E — Sharpbills ; TyrannidiE — Tyrant Flycatchers ; 

 Piprid(2 — Manakins ; and Cotingidce — Chatterers. 



In the four volumes published there have been described no 

 less than 1,675 species and sub-species, or somewhat more than 

 half the total number of North and Middle American birds. 

 It is sincerely hoped that the indomitable author will be spared 

 to see the completion of this great " Bulletin " of the United 

 States National Museum. 



["The Kea : a New Zealand Problem." By George R. Marriner, F.R.M.S., 

 Mem. Aust. O. U,, Curator Public Museum, Wanganui, N.Z., late Assistant in 

 Biology, Canterbury College, Christchurch, N.Z. Marriner Bros, and Co., 

 Christchurch. 1908.] 



New Zealand possesses many peculiar forms of bird-life, not 

 the least interesting among them being the subject of Mr. 

 Marriner's excellent monograph, the Kea {Nestor notabilis), 

 the notorious sheep-killing Parrot. The author has spared 

 no pains to make himself acquainted with the whole story 

 of the Kea, and he has presented it to his readers in very 

 attractive form. Although this bird was first discovered 

 in 1856, it was not until some 12 years later that it was 

 first suspected of attacking sheep. Its natural food consisted 

 of berries, seeds, roots, honey, grubs, and insects. Various 

 theories have been advanced to account for its remark- 

 able change of diet, but the most feasible appears to be that 

 it first acquired a taste for flesh by pecking at the carcasses 



