218 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
similar one, on the application of the law of priority to genera, which took 
place at a meeting of the Society nearly twenty years ago. The project 
was then condemned as unanimously as that of Mons. Des Gozis had been 
that evening; and he trusted that entomologists would hear no more of 
it.—H. Goss, Secretary. 
NOTICES OF NEW BQOKS. 
Rough Notes on the Birds observed during twenty years’ shooting 
and collecting in the British Islands. By E. T. Boorn. 
With Plates from drawings by E. Neale. Taken from 
specimens in the author’s possession. Parts VIII. and IX. 
Folio. London. 1885. 
Ir we have not of late referred to this excellent work, which 
continues to appear in parts, it has been from no want of 
appreciation of its merits. Its chief recommendation lies in the 
originality of the text, which, instead of being compiled from 
previous books on the subject, has been written entirely from the 
author’s own observation. As a result, we have not only a fresh- 
ness of style; but a good deal of information about the haunts 
and habits of birds of a kind not generally met with in text-books 
of Ornithology. Mr. Booth’s love of the subject has taken him 
a good deal into some of the wilder parts of Scotland, where he 
has found opportunity for studying uninterruptedly the life- 
history of many of the rarer birds whose habits are still but little 
known, and whose changes of plumage, whether dependent upon 
age or season, have been hitherto only imperfectly described. 
In Part VIII. the species dealt with are Montagu’s Harrier 
(with a plate of the adult female, and another of the nestlings), 
Greenfinch, T'wite, Missel Thrush, Quail, Woodcock (with two 
plates showing the summer and winter plumage), Jack Snipe, 
Landrail, Spotted Crake, Brent Goose, Whooper (with a plate 
showing the immature plumage), Pochard (figured side by side 
with Paget’s Pochard), Goldeneye (with figures of the adult and 
immature male), and Long-tailed Skua (with figures of the adult 
in winter and first autumn plumage). 
It will be seen that the species are not taken in any systematic 
order, but are selected apparently at random to give variety. 
Kach chapter, being separately paged, the possesser of the entire 
