552 Recently published Ornithological Works. 
agree with the author in considering the illustrations true 
to nature. True to nature, in our opinion, means true 
to life; and photographs from stuffed birds or skins in 
Mr. Rowland Ward's series cannot be considered satisfactory. 
But we are far from saying that the whole work will not be 
found most useful to the class to whom it is intended to 
appeal; it may, indeed, meet all their requirements, and 
much of the letterpress will interest a wider circle, the 
coloration of the young birds being an instance in particular. 
Six hundred species are included, without distinction 
between truly British and other forms, though square 
brackets are placed round the names of very rare stragglers. 
No authorities are given for the facts recorded, when 
already published, as Mr. Lydekker considers such to be 
public property. He dislikes, moreover, the splitting up 
of generic groups, though he recognises the main races 
proposed by modern writers. 
68. Menegaux on the Nest of the Oven-bird . 
[Sur le nid des Fourniers {Furnarius Vieill.). Par M. A. Menegaux. 
Bull Mus. d’Hist. Nat. 1908, no. 1, p. 6.] 
The author bases his article on four nests of a Furnarius 
procured by the “ Mission de Crequi-Montfort,” from Salta, 
in Northern Argentina. Unfortunately, no specimens of 
the builders of these wonderful structures were brought 
home, but there is little doubt, we think, that M. Menegaux 
is correct in referring them to Furnarius rufus. Most of the 
naturalists who have visited Argentina and Paraguay have 
written on the nest-building of this remarkable bird, and 
M. Menegaux, who has quoted Azara, Burmeister, Holland, 
Gibson, Goeldi, and other authors on the subject, has not, 
so far as we can see, added much to our knowledge of it. 
In fact there is not much more to be said than what has 
been already recorded by former writers, amongst whom 
Hudson, in ‘Argentine Ornithology/ should be specially 
quoted. There is a good series of the nests of Furnarius 
rufus in the British Museum, and a specimen of it is exhibited 
in the Bird Gallery. 
