372 Recently published Ornithological Works. 
Meyer. Lief. i. (1879), ii., iii. (1881-82), iv., v. (1883), vi., vii. (1884), 
viii., ix. (1885), 4to. Dresden: 1879-85.] 
Much too little attention, there can he no doubt, has as 
yet been paid to the study of the osseous framework of the 
class of birds, and Dr. Meyer's f Illustrations/ which have 
now reached their ninth number, and contain already not 
less than 90 plates, will be much valued by naturalists. It 
may, however, be remarked that, as a general rule, figures of 
individual bones are of greater assistance to the working- 
ornithologist than those of the whole skeleton, in which, 
especially when they are prepared from photographs as in 
the present case, there is sometimes an indistinctness about 
some particular point that one is wishing to investigate. 
Dr. Meyer's plates are not arranged in systematic order, 
but we trust that at the close of the work a systematic list 
will be given, which will greatly increase their usefulness. 
We must also say that the letterpress which accompanies the 
plates is rather meagre. It consists mainly of the results of 
measurements, which are of little value in classification. A 
general disquisition on the osteology of birds with references 
to the individual figures should certainly form a portion of a 
work of this character. 
68. f Mittheilungen 3 of the Ornithological Union of Vienna. 
[Mittheilungen des ornitholog'ischen Vereines in Wien. Section fiir 
Vogelkunde, Jahr. 9, no. 29-30; Jalir. 10, no. 1-5, 1885-86.] 
Amongst many articles of interest in the recent numbers 
of this periodical is Hodek's account of his collecting- 
expedition on the Lower Danube, during which a speci¬ 
men was obtained of a Pelican “ new to Europe." Of this 
curious bird a lengthened description is given (Jahrg. 10, 
no. 2, pp. 13, 14). It is stated that Herr v. Pelzeln is in¬ 
clined to refer the specimen to Pelecanus rufescens. But if we 
understand Herr v. Hodek's account of the termination of 
the feathered space at the base of bill correctly, the “ anony- 
mus " must belong to the group allied to P. onocrotalus, 
and perhaps be an abnormal variety of that species. Sclater 
has long suspected that P. sharpii of Bocage (cf. P. Z. S. 
1871, p. 632) may be merely a “hepatic" form of P. onocro - 
