]20 "The Times" on John Gould. Rfo^" 



and also the nerves running through the celkilar structure of 

 the upper mandible. 



Another work entitled Monograph of the Trogonidae, or 

 Family of Trogons, birds of surpassing splendour, was com- 

 menced by Mr. Gould in 1835, and finished in 1838. Indepen- 

 dently of their extraordinary beauty, these birds are peculiarly 

 interesting to the ornithologist from their geographical distribu- 

 tion. They are respectively distributed between inter-tropical 

 America, some portions of the continent of India, with the 

 islands of the Indian Archipelago, and Africa, one species only 

 being as far as we know, indigenous in the latter continent. 

 Previous to the commencement of Mr. Gould's Monograph, 22 

 species had been described; to this number Mr. Gould added 12 

 others new to science ; and he states iii his preface that he has 

 reasons for believing that many others have yet to be discovered, 

 both in the Old and New World, in remoter districts which the 

 civilised man seldom visits. A sui)plement to his attractive 

 Monograph of these birds will be welcomed by the lovers of art 

 and science throughout Europe. Of all the known species the 

 Trogon rcsplendcns, clad in golden irridescent green, with long 

 lax flowing plumes, is the most surpassing in brilliancy. Fine 

 specimens are contained in the collection of the British Museum. 

 Mr. Gould's figures of the male and female attest his success in 

 ornithological painting. Before the Monograph of the beautiful 

 and interesting family of Trogons (Trogonidae) was concluded, 

 two parts of a work termed A Synopsis of the Birds of Aus- 

 tralia made their aj)pearance. This Synopsis in its design is 

 purely scientific ; yet it is elegantly illustrated with those essential 

 parts of a bird which fix on the mind generic characteristics, as 

 presented by two, three, or more typical forms. The size of this 

 work adapts it to the ordinary library, and it is one of tho.se 

 publications which the practical ornithologist must possess. 



We must not omit to notice that, in the midst of his many 

 labours (1837-8), Mr. Gould prepared the ornithological ])ortion 

 of The Zoology of the Beagle, edited by Mr. Charles Darwin. 

 This portion of the work was illustrated by 50 exquisite plates 

 of rare and new birds from Patagonia and other ])arts of South 

 America, and also from the Galapagos Archipelago. Among 

 these is a new Rhea or South American Ostrich (Rhea 

 Darzvinii), the habits of which are admirably described by Mr. 

 Darwin in his journal. 



At this period, as the Synopsis and his papers in the Zoological 

 Proceedings prove, Mr. Gould had a grander work in prospect 

 — no less than a great work on the Birds of .histralia. Yet, 

 while meditating u]ion it, he gave to the world, in 1837, his 

 Icones .Ifium; and thus, as it were, freed his hands for strenuous 

 and undivided labour. It was in the same year that, taking a 

 glance at what his fellow ornithologists were doing, he issued a 

 prospectus, at the close of which he intimated his intention of 

 visiting Australia; for he felt that although he had access to 



