Hewitson's British Oology, 699 



p. 110., Water Birds, p. 125., Conclusion, p. 142." There 

 are woodcuts of 12 birds in the book, which, but for its price, 

 we would press every ornithologist to possess. 



Hexmtso?!^ William C. : British Oology ; being Illustrations 

 of the Eggs of British Birds, with a Figure of the Egg, or 

 Eggs, of each Species, as far as practicable drawn and co- 

 loured from Nature : accompanied by Descriptions of the 

 Materials and Situation of the Nests of the Birds, the 

 Number of Eggs these lay, &c. In 8vo numbers, pub* 

 lished every two months, each containing 4 lithographic 

 prints. Newcastle upon Tyne and London. 35. 6d, 



In September, 1831, we noticed this work in our Vol. IV. 

 p. 429., when the Second Number had just appeared : now, 

 nine Numbers are published, and the work has in no way 

 lessened in the interestingness we then ascribed to it. The 

 author is commendably cautious in advancing only facts 

 derived from the personal observation of himself and friends, 

 or in quoting only the assertions of the most reputable 

 authorities. 



Would it not be an excellent means of acquiring a mass of au- 

 thentic facts on British oology, were the author now to announce 

 that he will publish, at the conclusion of the work, whatever* 

 facts, derived from personal observation, his subscribers may 

 please to communicate unexpensively to him, if supplementary, 

 or even controversial, to those already advanced in the work ? 

 The probability is, that, by this means, at the expense of only 

 a few sheets of letterpress, some valuable facts might be 

 accumulated and recorded. A correspondent, now at oui* 

 elbow, says, the author's remarks on the peewit, tab. 1., are 

 excellent : but when it is stated, as two isolated facts, that the 

 bird prefers some slight elevation for the place of its nest^ 

 and that it is not to be surprised on the nest, but is ever on 

 the look-out; he says these two facts may be connected, by 

 stating that it prefers slight elevations, to facilitate, and increase 

 the range of, its vigilance ; and that, in ploughed land, its nest 

 is never to be found in the furrow, but always on or towards 

 the ridge, where its imperfect nest is not rarely but a hollow 

 within those wreaths of stubble which usually accumulate 

 before the coulter in ploughing, and which, when drawn off 

 by the plough's progress onward, are but very partially 

 covered by the turning furrow slice which follows. 



Sharpless, John T,, M.D. (of Philadelphia) : A Description 

 of the American Wild Swan, proving it to be a New 

 Species, Cygnus americanus Sharpless. Read before the 



