and Ornithological iBio^ra/;^uv.^<sA ^^'^ 



his pictures, that he who has once seen and exarahied them, can 

 never again look with pleasure on the finest productions of other 

 artists. To paint like Audubon, will henceforth mean to re^ 

 present Nature as she is. 



Nevertheless, there are faults in the work, as doubtless there 

 must ever be in the most successful imitations of nature. A 

 very few of the figures, if not positively bad, are poor, and must 

 have been taken from drawings made long before the artist 

 acquired the taste, or at least the facility which he now pos- 

 sesses. The Black-and-white Creeper may be instanced, although 

 the plant on which it hangs redeems the character of the artist. 

 In some cases, where the species is small, we might naturally 

 expect a whole group, and are disappointed in finding only a 

 single individual, generally a male. When only a solitary speci- 

 men of a rare or a new species had ever occurred to the author, 

 this might well be pardoned ; but even then, the individual 

 might be represented in at least two different positions, so as to 

 disclose all its parts. To be truly useful to the naturalist, the 

 representations of species ought to include the male, the female, 

 the young, and in some cases the bird in different stages. In 

 the subsequent volumes we may expect to find the deficiencies 

 supplied ; and in the mean time may enjoy the pleasure which 

 the contemplation of the wonders of nature and art, combined in 

 this splendid work, cannot fail to awaken in the mind of any 

 one alive to either. 



It now only remains to say a few words of the engraving. 

 Some of the plates at the commencement are by Lizars, the 

 rest by Havell, the former line, the latter liiie and aquatint 

 combined. Some of the first plates are rather coarse, but a 

 progressive improvement is perceptible. Many of those to- 

 wards the end, and indeed throughout, are extremely beauti- 

 ful. Nothing more perfect than the last twenty engravings, 

 for example, could be desired. Mr Havell has evidently mas- 

 tered his subject, and is worthy of being associated with the 

 great American naturalist in the production of a work which, 

 as Cuvier has justly said, is the most splendid monument that 

 has yet been raised to ornithology. 



Accompanying the first volume of the ** Birds of America,'* 

 appears another of smaller dimensions, but still somewhat " on 

 the grand scale,'' to which is given the title of ** Ornitho- 



