A RETROSPECT OP THE LITERATURE^ &C. 7^ 



racity ; and he will rise from the perusal with increased scepticism 

 for human testimony, with aggravated feelings of suspicion or con- 

 tempt for all the boasted powers of human reasoning and observa- 

 tion. Let him, for a moment, compare the figures of the Golden 

 Eagle of old Eleazar Albin, the Eagle-owl of Pennant and of Lew- 

 in, and the Bittern of the modest Mr. Hayes, with their splendid 

 prototypes in the IMuseum or the Menagerie ; and he will feel as- 

 tonished that any human being, gifted with the ordinary vision of 

 two ordinary eyes, could have put forth such miserable daubs, — un- 

 fit to grace even the sign-post of a village-hostelry, — for correct 

 representations of these magnificent denizens of the mountain, the 

 wilderness, and the waters. 



Ere yet we proceed to an examination of the splendid work of 

 Mr. Gould, by the appearance of which these observations have been 

 elicited, it may assist the investigations of the student, and serve to 

 refresh the memory of the more accomplished Naturalist, if we 

 briefly retrace the progress of British Ornithology, from the close of 

 the seventeenth century to the present time. In this retrospect, our 

 notices will be principally, although not exclusively, restricted to 

 the productions of British writers, and, of these, such as have fallen 

 under our own scrutiny. They will admit of convenient distribu- 

 tion into three Classes : 1. the works which treat exclusively of 

 Birds ; 2. those wherein Ornithology forms part only of a systematic 

 description of the Animal Kingdom ; and 3. those miscellaneous pub- 

 lications in which the subject is partially and incidentally discussed. 

 Under this three-fold division, we shall enumerate, and notice, the 

 various books, as nearly as recollection, unaided by the light of an 

 extensive ornithological library, will enable us to arrange them, in 

 the order of their publication. 



First, then, in the year, 1678, the celebrated Ornithology of 

 Francis Willughbyj appeared in a folio volume, under the auspices 

 of his friend and associate, the profound and illustrious Ray : who 

 translated it from the original Latin edition ; corrected its errors ; 

 supplied several deficiencies ; added three entire chapters ; and pre- 

 fixed to the whole, an account of the deceased naturalist. The de- 

 scriptions of the various birds, which this work contains, are, in 

 general, exceedingly accurate and minute; the plates, — seventy- 



