NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 395 



contemporary ornithologists. We cannot presume to say who is 

 right, we only regret the fact that in many instances they are 

 unable to agree as to the precise generic and specific names a 

 particular bird should bear. To take the case of a common and 

 widely distributed species, the Kestrel, which in the 4th edition 

 of Yarrell's ' British Birds ' (i. 78) appears as Falco tinnunculus, 

 is Cerchneis tinnunculus of Sharpe, and Tinnunculus alaudarius of 

 Blanford. To take another instance. Jerdon places the Merlin in 

 the same genus with the Hobby, and names it Hypotriorchis cesalon. 

 Prof. Newton, regarding it as a typical falcon, calls it Falco cesalon. 

 According to Dr. Sharpe it should be Falco regulus, Pallas, while 

 Dr. Blanford, adopting the genus Msalon of Kaup (1829), 

 styles it Msalon regulus ! Alas ! uniformity in nomenclature 

 seems to be as far off as ever, and, we suspect, is not likely to be 

 attained until an international congress of ornithologists appoints 

 a committee to prepare for publication an authoritative 'Index 

 generum et specierum.' 



This state of things makes it troublesome for a tyro to find a 

 particular species in Dr. Blanford's ' Index ' to this volume, 

 which does not include the English names. There is many a 

 man in India, a good sportsman perhaps, and would-be naturalist, 

 wishful, it may be, to do what he can in the cause of ornithology 

 by collecting specimens, yet knowing nothing of scientific 

 nomenclature. Anxious to identify some bird he has shot, he 

 has no idea under what name to search for it in the Index. 

 Hence it seems to us that the absence of the vernacular names 

 detracts in one respect from the practical utility of the work. 



The illustrations (chiefly figures of head and foot only) are 

 excellent, but might well be more numerous. 



The New Forest : its Traditions, Inhabitants, and Customs. By 

 Eose de Crespigny and Horace Hutchinson. Post 8vo, 

 pp. i-viii, 1-295. With Illustrations and Map. London : 

 John Murray. 1895. 



This is a gossipy and very readable little book, in large 

 type, well spaced out, and appropriately illustrated* It is not 

 exactly a guide to the New Forest district, for no routes are 

 indicated, nor information given as to what particular places are 

 especially worth a visit from the tourist ; but it conveys in a 



