Recently published Ornithological Works. 183 
these^ with additions and corrections to bring the List up to 
date, in a handsome octavo volume, which is further orna¬ 
mented by 30 coloured plates drawn by some of the best 
living bird-artists. Mr. Stuart Baker wisely follows nearly 
the arrangement and nomenclature used by Salvadori in the 
twenty-seventh volume of the British Museum Catalogue of 
Birds. He introduces the Bed-breasted Goose into the 
ludiau Avifauna mainly on the faith of specimens seen on the 
Brahmapootra. It is quite likely to occur there in the cold 
season, but we are not aware of there being Indian speci¬ 
mens of this Goose in any museum. The generic name of 
Rufibrenta, we may observe, which is here adopted for this 
species, is quite unnecessary, as it is a typical Brenta , except 
in colour. 
We do not find that Mr. Stuart Baker has solved the 
problem of what the Swan is that breeds regularly on the 
Lake of Seistan (see f Ibis/ 1906, pp. 397, 612, 737). 
21. Stuart Baker on the Birds of the Khasia Hills. 
[Birds of the Khasia Hills. By E. C. Stuart Baker, F.Z.S., M.B.O.U. 
Journ. Bombay N. H. Soc. 1907, pp. 783, 957.] 
The Khasia Hills in Assam, although separated from the 
Himalayas by the great valley of the Brahmapootra, are said 
to have nearly the same phase of animal life. All round the 
foot of the Khasias, as Mr. Stuart Baker tells us, the dense 
tropical woods contain much bird-life, but few forms of great 
interest. Towards Shillong there are immense stretches of 
grass-land, until, about five miles from that place, where the 
pine-forests begin, in the extreme east of the Khasias, there 
is another kind of country—grass-covered hills varied by 
scattered oak-forests. “ Towards Cherraponji and its 
vicinity there are many huge cliffs that afford breeding- 
places to several interesting birds, amongst which are the 
local Swift ( Cypselus acuticauda) and the Striped Swallow 
(Hirundo striolata). Hirundo daurica also breeds in the 
houses in the native villages.” Other interesting birds of the 
Khasias, Mr. Stuart Baker tells us, are the Long-tailed Wren 
