284 THE ZOOLOGIST, 



Canary " (Alario alario), stated to be confined to Cape Colony 

 and Great Namaqua Land, is also a sometime visitant to the 

 Transvaal, the writer of this notice having still a living speci- 

 men of this constant songster which was captured more than six 

 years ago near Pretoria. 



Much information is given as to the nidification of the species, 

 which by the descriptions and descriptive " keys " can be readily 

 identified, though the volume only deals with about one-half of 

 the Passerine Birds. We shall await the appearance of future 

 volumes with the greatest interest, and the series will probably 

 do the same for the fauna of South Africa as those edited by 

 Mr. Blanford have done for the zoology of British India. 



Catalogue of the Arctiadce (Nolince, Lithosiance) in the Collection 

 of the British Museum. By Sir George F. Hampson, 

 Bart. Published by the Trustees of the British Museum. 



With commendable energy and promptitude Sir George 

 Hampson has completed the second volume of his " Lepidoptera 

 Phalsense," the previous volume having been noticed in these 

 pages last year (1899, p. 37). The present instalment contains 

 589 pages, the critical arrangement and description of no fewer 

 than 1217 species, and, in addition to over 400 uncoloured figures 

 in the text, there is also issued in a supplementary form eighteen 

 excellently coloured plates. 



When we estimate the amount of thorough work expended in 

 this publication, based on the examination of nearly all available 

 material, with its specific and generic revision, its keys to facili- 

 tate identification, and its ample references to geographical dis- 

 tribution, combined with the universality of its fauna, there can 

 be little doubt we are receiving the most important entomological 

 publication of the day. Of course views will, and must, differ on 

 generic division ; on specific differentiation probably the last 

 word is said in many cases, and naturalists, as a rule, as well as 

 lepidopterists in particular, should welcome the healthy specific 

 synthesis that obtains in these pages. 



We are inclined to appraise these works beyond the purely 

 entomological standpoint. A directory may give the names and 

 addresses of a population, but does not constitute the history of 



