NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 197 



Herr Jacoby read a paper entitled " New, or little-known, species of 

 Phytophagous Coleoptera from Africa and Madagascar." 



A letter was read from Mr. E. C. Cotes, of the Indian Museum, 

 Calcutta, asking for the assistance of British Entomologists iu working 

 out certain groups of Coleoptera, Neuroptera, Orthoptera, Diptera, and 

 Hymenoptera in the Indian Museum. A discussion ensued, in which 

 Mr. M'Lachlan, F.R.S., Dr. Sharp, Mr. Waterhouse, Herr Jacoby, and 

 Mr. Distant took part. — H. Goss, Hon. Secretary. 



NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 



The Geographical Distribution of the family Gharadriidce ; or the 

 Plovers, Sandpipers, Snipes, and their Allies. By Henry 

 Seebohm. 4to, pp. i — xxix, 1 — 524, with 21 Coloured 

 Plates and numerous woodcuts. London : Sotheran & Co. 

 J887. 



The subject matter of this important work falls into two 

 divisions, for while the larger share of Mr. Seebohm's energy 

 has been devoted to elucidating the numerous and difficult 

 questions that have from time to time arisen regarding the 

 separation of allied forms, together with their respective 

 geographical ranges, the earlier chapters explain his personal 

 theories. These, while undoubtedly of importance, require, we 

 think, to be received with some amount of caution. 



The classification of Aves absorbs the first chapter, wherein 

 the author, basing his conclusions on the researches of Sundevall 

 and Huxley, boldly reduces the twenty-six orders proposed by 

 Sclater to no more than five. These five orders are designated 

 (1) Anseriformes, embracing Owls, Eagles, Herons, Flamingoes, 

 Ducks, Cormorants, and their allies (1000 species) ; (2) Cuculi- 

 formes, viz. Goatsuckers, Cuckoos, Woodpeckers, Parrots, King- 

 fishers, Hornbills, Rollers, Toucans, Jacamars, Pigeons, and their 

 allies (1900 species); (3) Passeriformes, Passerine birds, Humming- 

 birds, Swifts, and their allies (5980 species); (4) Charadriformes, 

 Penguins, Divers, Grebes, Auks, Gulls, Petrels, Plovers, Snipes, 

 Cranes, Rails, Pheasants, Tinamus, and their allies (1100 

 species) ; (5) Struthioformes, Ostriches, Cassowaries, Apteryx, and 

 their allies (20) ; the total number of known species being roughly 

 estimated at 10,000 species. 



