368 Recently published Ornithological, Works. 
thologist has yet been able to answer satisfactorily the ques¬ 
tions as to the sex which utters the well-known note, as to 
the time of moulting of the young Cuckoo, and as to the way 
in which the Cuckoo arrives at a knowledge of the time when 
she must place her egg in the nest selected for her purpose. 
63. Kingsley’s ‘ Standard Natural History .’ 
[‘ The Standard Natural History/ edited by John Sterling Kingsley. 
Vol. iv. Birds. Boston : S.E. Cassino and Co., 1885.] 
Those who wish to make themselves acquainted with the 
most “ advanced ” views on the classification of birds should 
devote their attention to the fourth volume of Kingsley’s 
‘ Standard Natural History.’ The f Natural History of 
Birds’ is stated to have been prepared by “ Walter B. 
Barrows, Daniel G. Elliot, Leonard Stejneger, Ph.D., and 
J. S. Kingsley, D.Sc.” But it will not be difficult for any¬ 
one acquainted with the writings of modern ornithologists to 
see at a glance which of these four gentlemen has had the 
greater share in its preparation, and under whose guidance 
the whole has been shaped into its present form. It 
would have been much better to have added to the “ con¬ 
tents ” the name of the author of each division, which can 
only be ascertained by a hunt for the signature that is 
attached to each succeeding portion. There, however, can 
be no question that the volume, as a whole, may be attributed 
to Dr. Stejneger, and great credit is due to him for its pre¬ 
paration. No work issued in Europe contains such a good 
general account of the Class of Birds according to the most 
recent researches of naturalists, and brings one into ac¬ 
quaintance with the newest discoveries in this group of 
vertebrates. In making a few critical remarks, as we turn 
over its pages, we are influenced by the hope that these 
points will receive attention in the preparation of the second 
edition of the c Standard Natural History of Birds,’ which 
which will assuredly be called for. 
The authors commence at the lower end of the series of 
birds, and treat first of the “ Saururse,” “ Odontormse,” and 
“ Odontoholcye,” as these three extinct subclasses are de- 
