438 



NA TURE 



{April <^, 1874 



from which that of the family is derived, ends in -a, the 

 termination -ad;e is employed, so that we find the words, 

 Ursi-ia?, Musteiadii;, Talpada?, &c. With all due defer- 

 ence to Mr. Bell, and in spite of the first line of Lucretius' 

 poem, which commences with " yEneadum genetrix," we 

 cannot help feeling that for the sake of uniformity and the 

 feelings of the many propounders of scientific names who 

 are not so well versed in the dead languages as they 

 might be, it is better to continue the now nearly uni- 

 versally employed -ida; on all occasions. 



The illustrations of the species described maintain the 

 general character of the work, some being evidently 

 new, as in the case of the deer. Many chapters have a 

 picturesque and respectively appropriate sketch as a con- 

 clusion ; and we notice that in the additional chapters, in- 

 stead of fresh sketches, there are in their place (we say it 

 with regret) views, both in profile and from above, of parts 

 of the skeletons of the subjects of the text. 



SCLATER AND SALVIN'S "NOMENCLATOR 

 A VI UM NEOTROPICALIUM " 



No7i!enclafor Avintn Neotropicalium, sive avium qua in 

 Regione Neoii'opica Imcusqzte repertcc sunt noniina sys- 

 tematice disposita adjecta sua cutgue speciei patria. 

 Accedunt generiim et specieruni novarum diagnoses. 

 Auctoribus Philippo Lutley Sclater et Osberto Salvin, 

 (Londini : sumptibus auctorum, 1873). i vol. fol., 

 164 pp. 



THE naturalists whose names are attached to the pre- 

 sent work have been for some years working to- 

 gether on American ornithology. Besides numerous 

 papers and articles of greater or less importance pub- 

 lished in the " Ibis," the " Proceedings of the Zoological 

 Society," and elsewhere, they completed in iS69aquarto 

 volume of " Exotic Ornithology," containing one hundred 

 coloured lithographic plates representing new or rare birds 

 of South and Central America, with accompanying letter- 

 press. These works are understood to be all written with 

 a view to the ultimate incorporation of the results arrived 

 at in an " Index Avium Americanarum," or complete trea- 

 tise on the ornithology of Central and South America. 

 In further progress towards this end the authors now give 

 us a " Nomenclator" or list of the generic and specific 

 names of the species of birds as yet ascertained by them 

 to occur in these countries, Avhich form the " neotropical 

 region" of Mr. Sclater — one of the six principal regions 

 into which he has proposed to divide the earth's surface 

 zoologically. After the name of each species is added the 

 "patria" or "habitat," indicating the exact locality in 

 which the species has been observed. 



The neotropical region is now well known to be the 

 richest in the world, ornithologically speaking ; the 

 " Nomenclator" contains the names of no less than 3,565 

 species of birds which, as the authors have convinced 

 themselves by personal examination, are found in it. 

 About 2,000 of these belong to the great order Pas- 

 seres, and rather more than 1,500 to the nineteen other 

 orders of birds met with in the neotropical region. One 

 order alone is unrepresented in South and Central Ame- 

 rica, namely, the Apteryges, which is confined to New 

 Zealand ; but on the other hand the neotropical region 



possesses two peculiar forms of bird-life of ordinal rank 

 (the Opisthocomus and the Tinatni) which are unknown 

 elsewhere. Besides these, many extensive families are 

 entirely restricted to the limits of this region ; for in- 

 stance, the Tanagers with 302 species, the Humming- 

 birds with 3S7 species, the Dendrocolaptida:; with 217 

 species, and the Formicariidas with 2 1 1 species. A few 

 Tanagers and Humming-birds have invaded the neigh- 

 bouring nearctic region (i.e. America north of Mexico), but 

 the great bulk of these large groups of birds and of seve- 

 ral other less numerous though equally distinct families, is 

 essentially neotropical. 



Nor must it be supposed that we are yet by any means 

 fully acquainted with the riches of the neotropical region. 

 The active ornithologists of the day are making con- 

 tinual additions to the long list — chiefly through the 

 exertions of collectors in various parts of the Andean 

 Chain, where almost every valley appears to contain 

 distinct species of birds. At a recent meeting of the 

 Zoological Society, twenty-four new species of birds 

 (several belonging to new genera) were described from a 

 single district in Peru, and Mr. Gould is constantly re- 

 cording additions to the long series of humming-birds 

 which he has so admirably monographed. Besides this, 

 the anatomy and osteology of the greater number of 

 exotic birds is almost utterly unknown, so that there is 

 ample work in the neotropical region alone for many 

 future generations of ornithologists. 



The two collections upon which the " Nomenclator " 

 has been principally based are those of Mr. Sclater and 

 of Messrs. Salvin and Godman. The former of these 

 contains an unrivalled series of the American species of 

 the great order Passeres, and a set of representatives of 

 the other higher orders, down to the end of the parrots — 

 altogether about 7,000 specimens. The latter collection 

 is still larger and more general, embracing the whole series 

 of American birds. It is especially rich in Central 

 American forms, the owners having themselves visited 

 several districts of the Central American Republics, and 

 employed private collectors in other districts for the en- 

 richment of their cabinets. 



The "Nomenclator" gives us a summary of all the 

 species represented in these two great collections, and of 

 other species examined by the authors, but of which they 

 have not yet succeeded in obtaining specimens. 



In an appendix are added characters of nine new 

 genera, and of thirty-one new species, founded on speci- 

 mens contained in one or other of the above-mentioned 

 collections. 



OUR BOOK SHELF 



The mishmcc Hills ; an Account of a Journey jnade in 

 an Alte?npt to penetrate Thibet /) om Assam to open new 

 Routes/or Commerce. By T. T. Cooper, F.R.G.S., Acting 

 PoHtical Agent at Bhamo. (London : Henry S. King 

 and Co., 1873.) 



Mr. Cooper is already well known as an enterprising 

 traveller and delightlul story-teller through his " Travels 

 of a Pioneer of Commerce in Pig-tail and Petticoats ; " 

 the present narrative is one of the most attractive 

 published for a long time ; it is one of the few books now 

 published one feels inclined to read through at a sitting. 

 Mr. Cooper tells his story without apparent efiort, and in 



