280 Ornithology in the International Exhibition. 



interest our readers, and, perhaps, make it of value to future 

 ornithologists as a contemporary record of the things shown. 



As the magnificent picture-galleries of the building first attract 

 the attention of visitors, so we may as well begin by noticing the 

 treatment ornithology receives at the hands of painters. Here 

 we feel we are treading on dangerous ground ; but since we do 

 not pretend to speak as critics of art, and '' The Ibis ' bears not 

 the impress of authority from Her Majesty^s Commissioners, 

 perhaps our remarks may be understood to be the plain state- 

 ment of our opinion as ornithologists. To be brief, birds do not 

 play an important part in the pictures exhibited, and, with a few 

 brilliant exceptions, we are sorry to say they are not treated as if 

 the artists had paid attention to some of the very simplest points 

 of their structure. Thus, in Mr. G. Cole's large picture of " Pride 

 and Humility" (British Division, No. 603), the arrangement of the 

 wing-quills of the strutting Turkey-cock (though the whole bird is 

 admirably outlined and coloured) is inverted, the inner web of the 

 first primary overlapping the outer web of the second, and so on. 

 Mr. J. Webbe's " White Owl " (No. 598), a portrait very true to 

 nature in general expression, and a picture, we are told, which 

 has been highly lauded by one of our most celebrated judges of 

 art, is clothed to all appearance, not in feathers, but in locks of 

 wet wool, giving the bird somewhat the look of a sheep on a 

 rainy day. Even an artist so great as Sir Edwin Landseer does 

 not always succeed in rendering the effect of plumage, as witness 

 the Wild Swan in his magnificent " Bolton Abbey " (No. 407), 

 where the beautifully soft feathers of the breast are so indif- 

 ferently represented as to give one at first sight the idea of the 

 bird having been plucked. But, in his " Defeat '' (No. 406), the 

 soaring Eagle against the pale glow of the dawn seems to come 

 as near perfection as possible. Of Mr. Wolf's skill the readers 

 of ' The Ibis ' require no assurance. The "Sir Joshua" of animal- 

 painters pays the country which has so long been his domicile the 

 compliment of exhibiting among her artists, and, high as his t\vo 

 works are hung, " The Tale (tail) of a Teal " (No. 523) and " The 

 Ptarmigan's Haunt" (No. 585) will, we are certain, catch the eye 

 of every ornithologist that enters the gallery. We do not express 

 any opinion as to their artistic merits, though we believe good 



