202 Recent Ornithological Publications. 
should imagine, quite inappreciable to any naturalist not belong¬ 
ing to the family of Pastor Brebm ! 
Professor ScblegePs contribution to the little annual published 
by the Society ‘ Natura Artis Magistra/ of Amsterdam, consists 
this year of “ Some words on the Black Cockatoos and the Para- 
dise-birds,” in which he gives a general review of the geogra¬ 
phical distribution of these groups of birds. We may remark 
that Professor Schlegel unites under one generic name in his 
present notice the Paradisece and Epimachi. As to these birds 
belonging to the same natural family, we think there can be little 
doubt ; but we suppose that even Professor Schlegel would not 
arrange them all under one generic name except in a popular 
publication like the present. The habitats of the Paradise-birds, 
as far as they are yet known, are stated with great precision. 
3. Scandinavian and Russian Publications. 
The second part of the second volume (new series) of the 
‘ Transactions * of the Royal Swedish Academy (Kongliga Sven- 
ska Vetenskaps-Akademiens Handlingar), published last year, 
contains a valuable contribution to the ornithology of South 
Africa, in the shape of some “ Zoological Notes of the late 
Johan Predrik Victorin, compiled and arranged from his papers 
by J. W. Grill,” communicated to the Academy on the 16th 
August, 1858. Victorin arrived at Cape-town in November 
1853, where he continued collecting until the end of February 
following, when he sailed to the eastward for Mossel Bay, and 
thence proceeded by George-town to Knysna—his “ land of 
promise.” There he remained until the next December, return¬ 
ing by a circuitous route through the Karroo to George-town. 
He finally left Cape-town in March 1855, having thus passed 
sixteen months in the southern districts of the colony, during 
which time he appears to have collected very diligently. The 
fruits of his expedition seem to have been nearly all presented 
to the Museum at Stockholm, and, we are informed, contained 
517 examples of birds of 153 species, and the eggs of 11, all 
stated to have been in first-rate condition. But far better than 
these seem to have been the careful notes which he affixed to his 
