750 Recently ‘published Ornithological Works. 
twelve sections, to provide an account of all the subjects 
mentioned in the title. He complains that since 1885 no 
important comprehensive book has been published in Britain 
on its Birds ; while he seems to prefer the “ new Naumann ” 
to our recognised authorities, and to take it, roughly speaking, 
as a model. We hope that he will succeed in his some¬ 
what ambitious project of bringing together information 
from every source in a comparatively small compass, and 
there can be no doubt that of late years much fresh light has 
been thrown on such subjects as Courtship and Migration. 
As Mr. Ivirkman states that his work is intended in the main 
to be of a popular description, and devoted specially to a con¬ 
sideration of the birds' habits, it may well be useful to those 
for whom he writes, and we see that he has secured a goodly 
number of contributors, many of whose names are well 
known in various branches of Ornithology. 
Each chapter is to deal with a Family, and coloured plates 
are to be given of nearly all the birds and eggs. These 
are not particularly successful, but we are pleased with 
some of the photographs of the nests. 
94. Littler on the Birds of Tasmania. 
[A Handbook of the Birds of Tasmania and its Dependencies. By 
Frank Mervyn Littler, F.E.S. Launceston, Tasmania, 1910. 1vol. 8vo. 
242 pp. Price 4s.] 
A book on the Birds of the whole continent of Australia 
must necessarily be a bulky work, and could hardly be 
made conveniently portable; but the much smaller avi- 
iauna of Tasmania renders such an undertaking, as regards 
that country, a comparatively easy matter. We are, there¬ 
fore, much pleased that Mr. Littler should have taken up 
the task, and are sure that his f Handbook 3 will be much 
appreciated by his fellow-countrymen, who were previously 
obliged to go to Australian authorities to find descriptions 
of their uative birds. 
Mr. Littler reckons the total number of absolutely 
authenticated species, including accidentals, casuals, and 
migrants, of all Orders for Tasmania at slightly over 200. 
