BIRDS 



OF THE 



JAPANESE EMPIRE. 



LITERATURE RELATING TO JAPANESE 



BIRDS. 



In the following brief notices of the most important books and 

 papers in various periodicals which treat of the Birds of Japan, an 

 attempt has been made to trace the gradual growth of our knowledge 

 of the subject during the present century. They are arranged in the 

 order of the date of publication. 



Pallas, Zoographia Rosso-Asiatica. Printed in 1809, but not pub- 

 lished until 1826. 



This important work, the value of which can scarcely be over- 

 estimated, embodies the results of thirty years^ work upon the 

 Zoology of Siberia and the adjacent Islands. Very little informa- 

 tion regarding the birds of Japan is to be found in it, but the 

 occurrence of 50 species on the Kurile Islands is recorded. Most of 

 these are given on the authority of Steller, whose manuscripts were 



B 



