( 465 ) 



NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 



A Dictionary of Birds. By Alfred Newton. Assisted by 

 Hans Gadow, with Contributions from Richard Lydekker, 

 Charles Roy and R. W. Shufeldt. Parts I and II. 8vo. 

 London : A. & C. Black, 1893. 



Although ninety years have elapsed since the appearance of 

 Montagu's ' Ornithological Dictionary,' its general utility, even 

 at the present day, has never been questioned ; and considering 

 the increased attention which of late years has been paid to 

 systematic ornithology, it is somewhat surprising that until the 

 present year no one has been found both able and willing to 

 undertake a new Dictionary of Birds brought up to a level with 

 the present knowledge of the subject. Were such a Dictionary 

 confined merely to British Birds, as was the case with Colonel 

 Montagu's work, it would still be a very arduous undertaking, and 

 we should be extremely grateful for it. But Professor Newton, 

 in the volume before us, has not only attempted this, but a good 

 deal more; for he has not only extended his Dictionary to include 

 Exotic species, but has introduced a variety of articles on 

 anatomy, colour, digestive system, eggs, embryology, extermi- 

 nation, feathers, geographical distribution, migration, &c, which 

 make the work a veritable encyclopaedia of ornithology. 



In the main his volume appears to be founded upon the 

 excellent articles which, in conjunction with the late Professor 

 W. K. Parker and others, he contributed to the 9th and latest 

 edition of the * Encyclopaedia Britannica ' ; but these have been 

 largely augmented and supplemented by other articles which go 

 to make the series much more complete and useful. A more 

 valuable repertory of the kind has not hitherto appeared; and 

 when the two parts which are still wanting to complete it are to 

 hand, ornithologists will possess a work of reference of excep- 

 tional utility. 



We cannot go so far as to say that it is as complete as it 

 might be made, or that it is not likely to be improved upon in 

 subsequent editions; for we have noted many omissions of 

 words that we should certainly have expected to find, and would 

 take exception to the introduction of others which, if not 



