Recently published Ornithological Works. 177 
been derived. Moreover, he has a very large collection 
of skins of Australian Birds, which should enable him 
to describe with accuracy the changes of plumage from the 
immature to the adult stage. He also employs at least one 
collector in every State of the Commonwealth, who con¬ 
tinually forwards fresh consignments of material, with notes 
on the colours of those parts so apt to fade in preserved 
specimens. 
Under each genus the author gives the synonymy, a short 
diagnosis, and a statement of distribution, followed by a 
key to the species. Similar details are to be found under 
the head of each species, with a full description, where 
possible, of the adult, the immature bird, and the chick. 
Details of the nest, eggs, and time of incubation are 
followed by a life-history of the bird and the literature 
dealing with it, long quotations being given from the 
accounts of actual observers. The plates, drawn by 
Keulemans, are good examples of that clever draughts¬ 
man's art. 
In this part—which includes the Emus, the Cassowary, 
the Mound-builders, the Quails, and the Hemipodes—-we 
may draw special attention in the first place to the four 
Emus, never previously figured in the same work. The 
Tasmanian form, now considered subspecifically distinct 
from that of the continent, is figured for the first time ; 
while the King Island Emu is finally separated from that 
of Kangaroo Island as Dromaeus minor , and a reproduction 
of Lesueur’s plate in Peron's ‘ Voyage' is given, being one 
of the figures which Mr. Mathews considers to represent it. 
The letterpress must, however, be consulted for full details, 
and also for accounts of the other birds included in this 
part, to which space does not permit us to do more than 
refer to in passing. 
Turnix olivii, of which only a single specimen is known, 
is also figured here; while it is claimed that the account 
now given of the life-histories of the Emus and Mound- 
builders in particular will clear up a good deal of mis¬ 
apprehension. 
SER. ix. —VOL. v. 
N 
