177 
and forthcoming Bird-Books . 
Philippines, which will fill up a hiatus valde deflendus in our 
knowledge of the Indian ornis, an abstract is given in the 
Zoological Society's f Proceedings' for 1873 (p. 519) ; and 
the complete memoir will appear before long in the Society's 
1 Transactions.' The plates are already on the stone. 
We now come to the ^Ethiopian Region. Here Mr. Sharpe 
is working away with his usual activity, as several recent con¬ 
tributions to the f Proceedings' and f Annals of Natural His¬ 
tory' testify. We also hear with pleasure of the steady pro¬ 
gress of his proposed new edition of Layard's f Birds of 
South Africa.' 
H. von Heuglin's important work on the birds of North- 
Eastern Africa has at length come nearly to a close. The 
42-43rd “ Lieferung" brings us to the end of the text and 
finishes the second volume. But a supplement is promised 
of additions and alterations, which, with preface and index, 
will complete the work. The text proper contains an account 
of no less than 929 species, besides what remain to be added 
in the supplement. 
New Guinea, situate in the northern portion of the fourth 
and last of the regions of the Old World, has lately been the 
seat of the researches of several rival naturalists of different 
nations. Russia has sent Dr. Miklucho-Maclay, Germany 
Dr. A. B. Meyer, and Italy Signor D'Albertis, to reap part 
of the rich harvest presented by Papuan nature in every de¬ 
partment. Of these active explorers D'Albertis has succeeded 
in bringing his results, as regards birds, first before the world. 
The firstfruits of his collections, which reached London in 
June last year, contained sixteen new species, which have 
been described in the Zoological Society's 'Proceedings'*. 
Amongst them were two new Birds of Paradise, Paradisea 
raggiana and Drepanornis albertisi , besides other remark¬ 
able novelties. A third new Bird of Paradise (. Epimachus 
elioti) has lately been described by Mr. Edwin Ward from a 
native skinf. We trust that the other two explorers of the 
wilds of Papua will have succeeded in producing other results 
equally remarkable. 
* P. Z. S. 1873, pp. 557, 690. t See P. Z. S. 1873, p. 742. 
