Recent LiteratiLre. 
Ill 
REICHENOW A'ND. SCHALOW’S RECORD OF THE LITERATURE OF OR- 
NITHOLOGY for. 1879.* — Although the compilers: of this excellent report 
regret its late appearance, in consequence of unanticipated delays in 
printing, their promptness is still commendable- The report appears to 
be very carefully and satisfactorily prepared,, the annotations being suf- 
ficiently full and explicit. 
Retchenow and Schalow' s Compendium of newly described 
Genera and Species of Birds. f The authors of the “Compendium ” 
are placing ornithologists under a debt of gratitude in promptly bringing 
together the diagnoses of the new genera, and species of current ornith- 
ological literature. The last installment apparently covers the first half 
of the year 1880,. and the families from Cucididce upward through the 
Oscines. The “Compendium” gives full transcripts of the original 
diagnoses. — J. A. A, 
Cory’s “Beautiful and Curious Birds, of the World.” — In the 
Bulletin for October, 1880 (Vol. V, p. 23.6),. Fart I of Mr. Cory’s beautiful 
work was noticed from advance sheets. This part was published shortly 
afterwards and early in February Part II appeared. The latter is of es- 
pecial interest to North American students from the superb plate of the 
Great Auk (A lea imfennis) which it contains. This figure, taken, we are 
told, from a specimen in the British Museum, represents an adult bird 
sitting on a bluff overlooking the sea, while on a rocky promontory in the 
background are grouped the erect forms of several others. The general 
execution of this plate is both spirited and artistic while the coloring is 
quite beyond criticism. 
In the accompanying letter-press Mr. Cory gives some well chosen 
extracts from the principal accounts that have appeared relating to the 
habits of the species, and to the history of its supposed extinction. The 
statement respecting the number of the skins,, eggs, and skeletons known 
to exist in the various museums and collections of the world, gives, 
information of much interest. There are in all seventy-one or seven-two 
skins, of which Germany has twenty and Great Britain twenty-two. Of 
eggs there are sixty-five, forty-one of which are preserved in Great Britain 
alone. Nine complete skeletons, besides a great number of detached 
bones, complete the list. 
In addition to the plate of the Great Auk, Part II contains equally beau- 
tiful representations of the King Bird of Paradise ( Cicinnurus regius ) and 
an Apteryx {Apteryx australis). If, as we have every reason to believe 
will be the case, the author carries through this work in the way in which 
* Zoologischer Jahresbericht fur 1879. Herausgegeben von der Zoologischen Station 
zu Neapel. Redigirt von Prof. J. Victor Cams (W. Engelmann, Leipzig). 5. Aves. Bd. 
II, pp. 1108-1161. Referenten Dr. Ant. Reichenow und H. Schalow. 
t Compendium der neu beschriebenen Gattungen und Arten. Von Anton Reichenow 
und Hermann Schalow. Journal fur Ornithologie, 1879, pp. 308-329, 420-437, 1880, pp. 
97-102, 194-209, 314-324. 
