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WALTER CHARLETON AND HIS 

 '^ ONOMASTICON ZOICON." 



BY 



W. H. MULLENS, m.a., ll.m., f.l.s. 



Among the earlier writers who contribute to our knowledge 

 of British ornithology, Walter Char le ton, the author of 

 the Oiiomasticon Zoicon, has perhaps hardly received the 

 attention which his writings merit. The reasons for this 

 neglect are, however, obvious. The Onomasticon Zoicon 

 was written in somewhat involved and curious Latin 

 rarely interspersed with brief comments in English ; it 

 was not of sufficient importance to secure translation, 

 and the date of its publication (1668) coming as it did 

 immediately before that of Francis Willughby's famous 

 Ornithology (Latin 1676, English 1678), was also prejudicial 

 to its success. Nevertheless Charleton's work is worth}' 

 of more than the very scant notice which has been 

 bestowed on it by the various writers and bibliographers 

 who have dealt with early British ornithology. It is 

 true that he does not add very greatly to the information 

 contained in such well-known works as William Turner's 



Avium historia (1544) and Christopher 



Merrett's Pinax Reruni (1666), but many of his observa- 

 tions are of considerable interest, and are worthy of being 

 rescued from the oblivion into \\hich they have been 

 allowed to fall. 



The Onomasticon Zoicon has been described as " A list 

 with English, Latin, and Greek names of all known 

 Animals, including an account of Charles 11. menagerie in 

 St. James's Park, followed by certain anatomical 

 descriptions and a general account of fossils." 



This description hardty does justice to our author, 

 as will, we think, be admitted from a perusal of some 

 of the more interesting and important observations 

 which we have taken fiom that portion of the work, some 

 fifty-six pages in extent, which deals with birds, and 

 with which Ave are here alone concerned. 



