US TEE ZOOLOGIST. 



NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 



The Geese of Europe and Asia. By Sergius Alpheraky, with 

 coloured plates by F. W. Frohawk, &c. Bowland Ward, 

 Limited. 



This work is a translation of the author's ' Gusi Kossii,' 

 published in Eussia in 1904, and is a valuable contribution to 

 the complicated question of the identification of the Anserince ; 

 and as the author is not disposed to lay too much dependence 

 on the dimension of the bill as a specific character, and which 

 he regards as largely dependant on age, and also practises the 

 greatest caution in using the colouring of the bill for the same 

 purpose, he is notably at difference with some other students. 

 Thus he disagrees entirely with Mr. Coburn's conclusion that the 

 Anser rubirostris, Swinhoe, is a distinct species (cf. ' Zoologist,' 

 1903, p. 46), and states " that this so-called species has no 

 existence." On the other hand, referring to Mr. Coburn's paper 

 " On the specific validity of Anser gambeli (Hartlaub) and its 

 position as a British bird" (cf. 'Zoologist,' 1902, p. 337), he 

 remarks, " A careful study of the article in question has, how- 

 ever, failed to convince me that the Geese taken by the author 

 for gambeli really belonged to that American variety of the 

 White-fronted Goose," and the argument used in support of that 

 objection must be sought at pp. 56-57. Then, again, he dissents 

 from the view of the late Mr. Seebohm, that Melanonyx brachy- 

 rhynchus was only a slight variety of M. segetum, an opinion also 

 shared by the late Mr. Cordeaux ; and as his discussion of the 

 question is fuli and interesting, it will be seen that the British 

 ornithologist will find very much for his consideration in these 

 pages. 



There are two appendices, one by Mr. G. F. Gobel on the Eggs 

 of Eussian Geese ; the other an Extract from the Diary of the 

 Visit to Kolguev in 1892 of Mr. S. A. Buturlin. The twenty-four 

 coloured plates contributed by Mr. Frohawk quite sustain the 



