322 Notices and Analyses. 



As a companion to this Map, Mr Knox has prepared the Topography 



of the Basin of the Tay, in the first volume of which are comprised 



the antiquities, — a review of the ancient history, — the ancient 



topography of the districts of country contained in the Map ; with a 



full account of all the interesting Roman works, camps, stations, &c. ; 



also the Druidical, Pictish, and Celtic antiquities. Volume Second, 



which is in preparation, will, we understand, contain the modern 



,^1 topography, including scenery, gentlemen's seats, &c. ; with an 



-, J account of the state of agriculture, manufactures, commerce, table 



''] xoi the heights of mountains, &c. 



^ /Though a long list of subscribers already appears in the work, we 



" . would still recommend it to the attention of those who are in any 



" ' way concerned with this interesting tract of country. 



On the Musk Deer. By M. Jobst. — Ibid. 



At the last meeting of German naturalists, at Heidelberg, M. Jobst 



presented the skin of a male deer, with the musk bag. He obtained 



it at London. It had been sent from Mongolia. According to M. 



,,^, Eschscholtz, this skin belongs to a new species, characterized by two 



white lines on the neck ; he calls it Moschus AUa'icus. 



Ornithological Biography, or an Account of the Habits of the 

 Birds of the United States, accompanied by Descriptions of the 

 Objects represented in the Work, entitled the Birds of America, 

 and interspersed with Delineations of American Scenery and 

 Manners. By John James Audubon, F.R.SS. L. & E. &c. 

 Edinburgh, 1831. 8vo. dm.^i vd hx^]xi>A :; ... , - .li' ^./- , .vi 



This work consists essentially of descriptions of the objects represented 

 in the first volume of the " Birds of America," w^hieh is remarkable 

 chiefly for the beauty and elegance of the attitudes in which the 

 feathered warriors and songsters are presented. It is not our inten- 

 tion to enter into any criticism of M. Audubon's splendid pictorial 

 performances, which can scarcely be of much use to the student of 

 ornithology, on account of their great price, but which, as introducing 

 ;*.*' a new style in the representation of objects of natural history, and 

 J'\, exhibiting the power of depicting even the passions of animals, must 

 necessarily be productive of benefit to science. In the descriptive 

 ^f!T work before us, we find a full account of the manners, migrations, 

 dispersion, and characteristic peculiarities of the 99 species of birds 

 already represented by the pencil of the American ornithologist. 

 In most cases, the descriptions agree with those of Wilson, of which 

 wiagn' ^^^y jjja.y be considered as corroborative ; but they also contain many 

 '^^^ '"* ^ particulars, of which that writer, being less acquainted with the 

 „ country, was not aware. They refer more especially to the manners 

 ' of the diflTerent species, the mode of flight, and other circumstances, 

 which authors generally overlook, contenting themselves with the 

 descriptions of the forms and colours of the exterior. Of these 

 latter, the Ornithological Biography contains many which we might 

 point out as models. The birds are not arranged in any order, but 

 occupy each an insulated position, which has prevented the author 

 from presenting his views respecting the grouping of species, and the 

 affinities, discrepancies, and contrasts, which form the most difficult 

 department of ornithology. In the descriptions also there is a want 



