78 
Reviews. 
r The Emu 
L 1st July 
is given for each species. Distribution is dealt with in detail for 
the British Isles and in more general terms for abroad. Migra¬ 
tions and passage movements, as observed in the British Isles, are 
detailed in a special section. The area of arrival and departure 
and the usual (as well as the extreme) dates are given. 
Both in the plates and text figures the aim has been to illus¬ 
trate characteristic features either in the colour or structure of 
each bird. The young of British breeding species are also illus¬ 
trated where they differ conspicuously from the adult. The 
greatest care has been taken to insure accuracy of detail in the 
illustrations. Apparently it will be years before such a book 
of reference is available for Australian held workers. 
* * * 
['‘A Natural History of the Ducks.” — By John C. Phillips, Associate 
Curator of Birds in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard 
College. With plates in colour and in black and white, from draw¬ 
ings by Frank W. Benson, Allan Brooks, and Louis Agassiz Fuertes. 
Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, The Riverside 
Press, Cambridge, 1922.] 
This far-reaching and important work is to be completed in 
four volumes, quarto size. Two volumes have appeared, copies 
of which have been deposited in the library of the R.A.O.U., 
“with the compliments of the author.” Every member of the 
Royal Ornithologists’ Union spontaneously extends his or her 
hearty thanks to Dr. Phillips for this most handsome and valuable 
gift. 
Although strictly scientific, the work is popularly written, and 
so easy to understand “that he may run that readeth.” The 
“Introduction,” dealing with “General Distribution,” “Plumage,” 
“Flight,” “Special Senses,” “Courtship,” “Nesting,” etc., is most 
fascinating, compelling the reader to follow closely every line, 
with no temptation to skip. Space alone forbids a lengthy notice: 
members for themselves must read the books. 
Dr. Phillips begins with the “Dawn of Creation” — Pleistocene 
times, when the huge, flightless, goose-like bird ( Cnemiornis ) 
roamed the New Zealand regions, probably in the form of a 
gigantic Cape Barren Goose, and contemporary with the Moas. 
It is impossible to draw “a hard-and-fast line between geese and 
ducks,” and, as in other avine families, osteology, as an aid, has 
been disappointing. Tree-Ducks, typical of the tropics (of which 
two species are Australian) are often placed among the true 
ducks. Dr. Phillips believes they well deserve the rank of a 
sub-family by themselves. The well-known Australian Black 
Duck ranges widely into islands of the Pacific. The unique 
flightless duck (which is little known) of the Auckland Islands, 
the Musk, the Pink-eared and Freckled Ducks, are considered 
to be “the most peculiar and aberrant members of the tribe.” 
Most interesting is the distribution of the sexes in migration. 
Dr. Phillips writes: “True geese migrate in pairs and families. 
