184 Audubon's Ornithological Biography. 



REVIEWS. 



Art. I. Titles of Works on Subjects of Natural History , published 



' recently. 



Audubon, John James, F.R.S. L. and E., &c. : Ornithological 

 Biography, or an Account of the Habits of the Birds of 

 the United States of America ; accompanied by Descrip- 

 tions of the Objects represented in the Work entitled the 

 " Birds of America," and interspersed with Delineations of 

 American Scenery and Manners. 2 vols, royal 8vo. 255. 

 each. Vol. II. published in the end of 1834. 

 The second volume of this valuable and original work has 

 recently been published. Like the former one, it contains 

 descriptions of more than one hundred species of birds; be- 

 side numerous animated notices of various quadrupeds and 

 reptiles associated with them in the American wilderness ; 

 and interspersed with occasional narratives of the author's 

 personal adventures, serving distinctly to present the charac- 

 ter of the animals and scenery before the view of the reader. 



No works on natural history are more instructive and 

 delightful than those which describe the manners and habits 

 of animals in their native solitudes; exulting in the pleasure 

 of existence, and the free exercise of their powers and in- 

 stincts ; unrestrained by the intrusion of cultivation, or dread 

 of the dominion of man. To execute a work of this kind 

 well, requires years of patient investigation, amid dangers and 

 difficulties which demand no small degree of patience and 

 courage in the observer, and a constitution fitted to endure 

 severe hardships and privations ; but, above all, he should be 

 inspired with an enthusiastic ardour in the pursuit of dis- 

 coveries in nature, which finds a rich reward in extending the 

 bounds of knowledge ; and he should, besides, possess the 

 power to describe clearly, and delineate accurately, the new 

 objects that present themselves to his notice. That Mr. Au- 

 dubon possesses, in an eminent degree, these qualifications, 

 we think no impartial person will hesitate to admit who has 

 read the two volumes of his Ornithological Biography, or 

 seen his truly splendid and animated drawings of the Birds of 

 America. A review of the first numbers of the engravings of 

 his Birds of America, by W. Swainson, Esq. F.R.S., is given 

 in the Magazine of 'Natural History, May, 1828 [I. 43 — 52.], 

 to which we refer our readers. The numbers of this work 

 which have been subsequently published fully sustain the high 

 character assigned to the work by that distinguished natu- 

 ralist. Baron Cuvier, in a report made to the Royal Academy 



