AVES. 
29 
AVES 
BY 
Alfred Newton, M.A., F.L.S., etc. 
Judging merely from the amount of labour which the compila- 
tion of this ^Record’ has required, and without actually counting 
the pages read, the extent of the ornithological literature of 
1868 is not less than that of its immediate predecessor, which so 
far exceeded in bulk anything ever known before : yet it must 
be confessed that no publication of any very extraordinary merit 
has made its appearance during the past year. Still the number 
of works which come up to a good average standard is certainly 
increasing, and, as the following pages will testify, there seems 
to be scarcely any civilized country in the world where Orni- 
thology is not being actively studied. The ^ Oiscaux Fossiles ^ 
of M. Alphonse Milne-Edwards continues to furnish a source of 
the greatest general interest ; the specialist may rejoice in the 
completion of Dr. FinscRs monograph of Parrots and the com- 
mencement of Mr. Sharpens monograph of Kingfishers ; while 
the progress of science in its highest branches has been success- 
fully promoted by a continuance of Prof. Huxley’s and Mr. 
Parker’s researches, and the appearance of Mr. Darwin’s ^ Ani- 
mals and Plants under Domestication.’ The great illustrated 
works of Messrs. Gould, Elliot, and Sclater and Salvin offer 
also a strong attraction to those who are best pleased through the 
eye. In works confined to particular districts, that of Messrs. 
Schlegel and Pollen on Madagascar, just finished, and that of 
Herr von Pelzeln on the long-neglected results of Natterer’s 
many years’ wanderings in Brazil, deserve especial mention. 
The greatest novelty, perhaps, which it is our duty to record is 
Mr. Wallace’s ingenious ^Theory of Birds’ Nests,’ though in 
truth it was actually promulgated in 1866. There is accordingly 
no reason to fear tliat Ornithology is not in a prosperous con- 
dition; and, in conclusion, we have as before to return our 
thanks to many friendly hands for assistance rendered to us in 
our somewhat wearisome task*. 
* We regret to say that the concluding Heftoi the ^Journal fur Or- 
nithologie,’ though bearing date November 1868,” was not sent out by its 
