INTRODUCTION 21 



zeal — not always according to knowledge, but occasionally reaching to 

 serious study — with which that taste is pursvied. 



Having thus noticed, and it is to be hoped pretty thoroughly, the 

 chief ornithological works begun if not completed prior to the commence- 

 ment of the present century, together with their immediate sequels, those 

 which follow will require a very different mode of treatment, for their 

 number is so great that it would be impossible for want of space to deal 

 with them in the same extended fashion, though the attempt will finally 

 be made to enter into details in the case of works constituting the founda- 

 tion upon which apparently the superstructure of the future science has 

 to be built. It ought not to need stating that much of what was, com- 

 paratively speaking, only a few years ago regarded as scientific labour is 

 now no longer to be so considered. The mere fact that the principle of 

 Evolution, and all its admission carries with it, has been accepted in some 

 form or other by almost all naturalists, has rendered obsolete nearly every 

 theory that had hitherto been broached, and in scarcely any branch of 

 zoological research was theory more rife than in Ornithology. One of these 

 theories must presently be noticed at some length on account of the 

 historical importance which attaches to its malefic effects in impeding the 

 progress of true Ornithology in Britain ; but charity enjoins us to consign 

 all the rest as much as possible to oblivion. 



On reviewing the progress of Ornithology since the end of the last 

 century, the first thing that will strike us is the fact that general works, 

 though still undertaken, have become proportionally fewer, and such as 

 exist are apt to consist of mere explanations of systematic methods that 

 had already been more or less fully propounded, while special works, 

 whether relating to the ornithic portion of the Fauna of any particular 

 country, or limited to certain groups of Birds — works to which of late 

 years the name of " Monograph " has become wholly restricted — have 

 become far more numerous. But this seems to be the natural law in all 

 sciences, and its cause is not far to seek. As the knowledge of any 

 branch of study extends, it outgrows the opportunities and capabilities of 

 most men to follow it as a whole ; and, since the true naturalist, by 

 reason of the irresistible impulse which drives him to work, cannot be 

 idle, he is compelled to confine his energies to narrower fields of investiga- 

 tion. That in a general way this is for some reason to be regretted is 

 true ; but, like all natural operations, it carries with it some recompense, 

 and the excellent work done by so-called " specialists " has over and over 

 again proved of the greatest use to advancement in different departments 

 of science, and in none more than in Ornithology.^ 



Another change has come over the condition of Ornithology, as of 

 kindred sciences, induced by the multiplication of learned societies which 

 issue publications, as well as of periodicals of greater or less scientific 

 pretension — the latter generally enjoying a circulation far wider than the 



^ The truth of the preceding remarks may be so obvious to most men who have 

 acquaintance with the subject that their introduction here may seem unnecessary ; 

 but it is certain that tlie facts they state have been very little appreciated by many 

 writers who profess to give an account of the progress of Natural History during the 

 present century. 



