76 
POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
called in to Ids aid the genial pen of Mr. J. E. ITarting, whose varied powers 
and great ornithological knowledge eminently fitted him for the task ; and 
that the few introductory notes on the natural history of the ostrich have 
grown into a sort of monograph of all the species of Struthious birds, occu- 
pying just three-fourths of the book, which, as the authors tell us, has 
grown by a 11 process of evolution from a pamphlet into a volume.” We 
fancy that few who are interested in natural history studies will be in- 
clined to quarrel with the authors on this account. It is no small advantage 
to have a good, readable, and reliable natural history of so interesting a 
group as the Struthious birds, and this is what Mr. Harting has presented 
to us. He describes all the species of the group — the African Ostrich, the 
South American Rheas, the Emus of Australia, and the Cassowaries of 
Australia and the islands of the Australian region ; and gives a short ac- 
count of the curious Kiwis ( Apteryx ) of New Zealand, which are also re- 
ferred to the Ratitse. The natural history of each species is given so far 
as it is known; and in search qf information on this subject, the works 
of a great number of naturalists and travellers have been ransacked, with 
the most interesting results. In connection with this, however, we cannot 
but think that the long extract from M. Yavaseur’s account of the Rhea 
ought hardly to have been given in its original French. The little volume 
is illustrated with good woodcuts of some of the species described, and of 
the characteristic parts of others, and a few hunting scenes are introduced. 
NORTH AMERICAN MOTHS.* 
fflHE American Geological Surveys by no means confine their activity to 
J- what might seem at the first glance to be their legitimate sphere. The 
actual officers of the survey are expected to have an eye for the picturesque 
in the scenery of the out-of-the-way places that their labours necessarily 
lead them to visit, and to notice any facts of interest in other departments 
of science than their own, and in general naturalists are attached to the par- 
ties sent out, in addition to the regular staff of the survey, for the purpose 
of investigating the zoology and botany of the regions traversed. In this 
way a great amount of information upon the general natural history of the 
vast territories of the United States is rapidly being accumulated, and the 
authorities publish the results of the investigations thus made in by no 
means a niggardly fashion. Several of the States have already published 
valuable treatises on the zoology of their districts, and in addition to many 
papers of interest on zoological subjects which have appeared in its bulletin, 
the Geological Survey of the Territories some years since published a mono- 
graph of the Acrididse of the United States by Mr. Cyrus Thomas. Ento- 
mologists are now indebted to Hr. Hayden for another valuable work on 
insects in the “ Monograph of the Phalsenid Moths ” of the United States 
* 11 Report of the United States Geological Survey of the Territories,” 
Vol. X. “ A Monograph of the Geometrid Moths or Phakenidae of the 
United States.” By A. S. Packard, Jun., M.D. Washington. 1876. 
