January 37, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



99 



anatomical structure of the vocal apparatus 

 in birds, which, with the accompanying illus- 

 trations, gives a fair idea of the parts con- 

 cerned and their functions. Chapter II. treats 

 of the differences in the development of the 

 vocal muscles in different groups of birds, and 

 especially among different groups of song birds 

 (Oseines), as well as of the differences in the 

 vocal apparatus in the two sexes of the same 

 species. In the female the parts are similar 

 to those in the male, but much more feebly 

 developed. 



Chapter III. deals with the development of 

 the song instinct, and discusses at some length 

 the theories of Darwin, Wallace, Groos and 

 others, and finally presents his own views on 

 the subject, based in part on new material. 

 The original call-notes, from which song has 

 been developed, he believes were originally 

 signal or recognition sounds, and that these 

 have become specialized according to sex and 

 as an aid to tlie male in attracting the female. 

 He recognizes four stages or phases in the 

 development of birds' calls and songs, namely : 

 (1) A simple, uniform call, serving as a signal 

 and recognition note for the species, developed 

 by natural selection; (2) varied sexual calls 

 or pairing calls, and (3) singing and warbling, 

 or pairing songs, serving for the mutual 

 attraction of the sexes, and developed through 

 natural unconscious sexual selection ; (4) sum- 

 mer, autunm and winter songs of Palsearctic 

 birds, expressive of the ordinary emotions of 

 the species ('allgemeine Wirkung auf die 

 Psyche'), and due, at least in part, to natural 

 selectiorL. 



Chapter IV. treats of other love-making 

 demonstrations, as the 'clapping' of the stork, 

 the 'drumming' of woodpeckers (forms of 

 'instrumental music'), the 'bleating' of snipe, 

 song-flights, dances, display of color-marking 

 and other ornamentation, etc., and of their 

 relation to voice and song. In this connec- 

 tion the evolution of courtship or love-making 

 is also considered. 



Finally there is a convenient summary of 

 the author's evidence and conclusions, the 

 whole forming a highly original and suggest- 

 ive treatment of a very interesting subject. 



J. A. A. 



Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalmnce in the 

 British Museum. By Sir George F. Hamp- 

 SON, Bart. Vol. III., Arctiadse (Arctianse) 

 and Agaristidse. London. 1901. 

 This volume of 690 pages is published in the 

 same style as Volume II. of this series, already 

 noted in these pages. The Arctiadse subfamily 

 Arctianaj comprises 946 species from the entire 

 world, of which 83 are here first described. 

 Fifty new generic names are proposed. The 

 small family Agaristidee, which are, as the 

 author rightly observes, an outgrowth of the 

 Noctuidae, comprises 225 species, of which eight 

 are here first described. Eleven new generic 

 names are proposed in this group. The author 

 has made some orthographical changes. West- 

 woodi, whiteleyi, kinhelini, ilahei, etc., appear 

 in a scarcely recognizable guise as vestvoodi, 

 vhiteleyij cincelini, hlacei, etc. But loewi on 

 page 226 escaped, doubtless by inadvertence. 

 We think these changes scarcely advisable. 

 The woodcuts in the text and the volume of 19 

 colored plates accompanying the book are up to 

 the author's usual standard, if not slightly su- 

 perior to it, and add greatly to the usefulness 

 of the work. Owing to the author's method of 

 selecting the types of the older genera, his re- 

 fusal to recognize some of the names proposed 

 by Jacob Hiibner, and to his ideas of the ex- 

 tent of genera, we find the familiar names of 

 the North American species sadly changed. We 

 hope to become accustomed to these changes; 

 but it emphasizes the fact that the concept of 

 the genus is very largely a personal one. With 

 this in view I have catalogued the specimens in 

 the National Museum by specific names, aa 

 being the more stable. We miss the genera 

 Cydositt; Doa, Cerathosia, Psychomor'pha, Eu- 

 pseudomorpha (Edivardsia Neum.), Eudryas 

 and C iris J but these the author doubtless re- 

 gards as Noctuidffi. We hope they will not fail 

 to find place in the succeeding volumes, as 

 seems to have happened to the genus Pygoct- 

 nucha with the species harrisii Bd., funerea 

 Grt. and rohinsonii Bd., and to Ptychoglene 

 coccinca Hy. Edw., which do not appear in 

 either Vol. II. or III., and certainly cannot 

 come in the Noctuidse which will follow. Our 

 large and handsome Arctain, Platyprepia vir- 

 gmalis Bd., has been quite omitted. Equally 



