PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 395 



1837-52. Macgillivkay, W. — Continued. 



. . . Vol. III. I Reptatores, Creepers ; Scausore.s, Climbers ; Cuculiuae ; | 

 Raptatores, Plunderers, or Rapacious Birds ; | Excursores, Suatchers ; Voli- 

 tatores, Gliders; | Jaculatores, Darters. | [Imprint as above.] | 1840. 1 p. L, 

 pp. i-xii, 1-763, figg. 186-"276, pll. xiv-xsii. 



. . . Vol. IV. I Cursores, or Runners. ] Tentatores, or Probers. | Aucupatorea, 

 or Stalkers. | Latitores, or Skulkers. | London: | William S. Orr, and Co., 

 Amen Corner, | Paternoster Row. | 1352. pp. i-xxviii, 1-700, figg. 1-59, pll. 

 xxiii-xxvi (or i-iv). 



. . . Vol. V. I Cribratores, or Sifters. | Urinatores, or Divers. | Mersatores, 

 or Plungers. | [Imprint as last above. ] I 185'2. pp. i-xx, 1-688, figg. 60-100, plL 

 xxvii-xxis (or v-vii). 



The last 2 vols, having thus a diflferent imprint from that of the first :!, aud being separated 

 therefrom by a considerable interval of time (during which Engelmann's Bibl. appeared), the 

 •work has sometimes been cited as of only 3 vols. But the 5 vols, are continuous and nnifona 

 parts of one "History." 



This is ilacgillivray's opus magnum ; not to be confounded with his " Manual " in 2 vols., 

 1840-42. 



Opinion differs greatly respecting the merit of Macgillivray's work, and it is not easy to 

 decide in a case where one's estimate must depend so much upon whether one likes the author 

 or not; for this writer's porsoaality colors his work throughout, and almost necessarily im- 

 presses itself upon the reader. For instance, Macgillivray is to me personally so agreeable a 

 companion, that I doubt not that my warm appreciation of his ability and acquirements i« 

 open to a charge of favoritism. His writings attract me strongly ; and possess for me the 

 nameless fascination that thousands have felt in perusing the jiages of Gilbert "WTiito or of 

 Alexander Wilson. Macgillivray appears to have been of an irritable, highly sensitized tem- 

 perament, flrod with enthusiasm and ambition, yet contending, for some time at least, with 

 poverty, ill-health, and a perhaps not well-founded though not tliereforo the less acutely-felt 

 sense of neglect ; thus ceaselessly nerved to accomplish, yet as continually hauuted with the 

 dread nf failure. The result of such an unstable equilibrium as tliis will depend mostly upon 

 circumstances ; there is the impetus within, but the direction it takes will be along the line 

 of least resistance. This author was undoubtedly unwise in his frankness ; but diplomacy is 

 a .stranger to such characters. The strength of our universal instinct of self-preservation 

 sometimes converts an attitude intended to be simply defensive into one positively oftensive; 

 and Macgillivray's way of handling people wliom he disliked or despised often savored of 

 arrogance. It may be doubted that there was i-eally any " holier than thou " feeling at heart, 

 whatever his seeming assumption of superior knowledge or greater love of truth in compari- 

 son with his peers. If ho never hesitated to differ sharply with any one, or to express his 

 own views pointedly — if he scarcely disguised his contempt for triflers, blockheads, pedants, 

 compilers, and thoorizers — if he was also fallible, even as the rest of us — he was nevajptheless 

 a lover of nature, an original tliinker, a hard student, and, finally, an ornithologist of large 

 practical experience, who wrote down what he know or believed to be true wit Ii great regard 

 for accuracy of statement aud iu a v(!ry agreeable manner. 



I 8uppo.se this elaborate and extended "History" to be one of the most accurate and reli- 

 able of the many which handle the same subject ; and it is doubtless, to ni.any l)esides my- 

 self, one of the most entertaining. I am competent to judge of the fidelity of Macgillivray's 

 pictures of bird-life only in the instances of birds common to America and Europe ; but in 

 such cases they tally well with my own experiences; and when writing descriptions of the 

 form and colors of birds, I find it of no little assistance to have Macgillivray's page before me 

 as well as the specimens themselves. There is no question of this author's accuracy and 

 clearness in describing specimens in hand. 



Besides the specific descriptions whicli form most of the text of this work, tlitTe is a good 

 deal of general oruitliology in the matters of classification .ami anatomy — the latter especially 

 relating to the structure of the digestive system, upon which the autlior's classification is so 

 largely based. For Macgillivr.ay, it will bo r(Muombored, discovered or invented for himself 

 a classification of birds, which has at least tlie merit of being original with him, and of rep- 

 resenting conclusions derived from .ac'tual observation. He developed his -sy.stem consist- 

 ently, and published it with express unconcern for its fate at the hands of otliers ; lie liked 

 it, and if others did not, so much the worse for them — did they expect him to fumisli brain.s 

 tdao? The outline of this .system maybe seen from the above title. Tliough based upon 

 anatomical structure, it is, iu fact, one of the purest physiological or .so-called •■ teleological" 

 classifications wo have had ; worked out upon tlie adaptive m'xliHeations of certain organs. 

 It thus proceeds upon wliat appears to , an Evolutionist of tn-day to be a radically false pre- 

 mise; and its agreement in any points with a scheme based upon ])iir"ly nujrpholngical con- 



