9 
[FROM THE SOUTH AFRICAN QUARTERLY JOURNAL, 
No. I., Ocr. 1829 to Jan 1830.] 
A Description of the Birds inhabiting the South of 
Africa. By Anprew Smita, M.D. Member of the 
Wernerian Natural History Society of Edinburgh; 
Honorary Member of the Mineralogical Society of Jena ; 
and Corresponding Member of the Zoological and Hor- 
ticultural Societies of London. 
For the botanist, South Africa has long formed a favorite 
retreat, and has been one of the sources from whence he has 
for years past been accustomed to gather many of the finest 
and rarest productions of the vegetable kingdom. Fashion, 
together with such decided liberality towards that the least 
offensive of nature’s departments, have tended hitherto to main- 
tain the superiority so much in favor thereof, that the riches 
of the other kingdoms have, in a great measure, been over- 
looked. Indeed, were it not for the writings of the indefati- 
gable and accurate Le Vaillant, the world would scarcely have 
yet the means of ascertaining whether life existed there in 
any other form than that in which it occurs in plants. The 
revolutions which have lately taken place in the scientific 
world, or, at least, in a part thereof, give us reason now to 
hope that inquiry will be more divided and equalized, and that 
every branch will receive that degree of consideration which 
their common origin equally demands from those who are am- 
bitious of understanding the general scheme of creation. 
The naturalist who selects Southern Africa for the site of 
his exertions, can scarcely err in the choice of a department, 
as all are prolific in the extreme, and it is only by the observer 
who is unacquainted with the characters of diversities, that 
any thing like limitation or deficiency can be experienced. The 
native quadrupeds already known amount to a very considera- 
ble number, but are yet imperfectly described, particu- 
larly the smaller species. Of such also there is scarcely 
a part of the country that does not stili contain nondescripts, 
and we have only to observe where vegetable or animal pro- 
ductions occur of a description different to those we have 
found constituting the food of species already known, to ena- 
ble us to extend discovery. Solitary changes appear incon- 
sistent with the design of nature, so that whenever a novelty 
is discovered it follows almost as a matter of course, that 
others exist upon which the one or the other depends. Thus 
a change in the character of vegetation is generally attended 
with a change in the insect tribes, and a change of those 
again with a corresponding one in the smaller quadrupeds or 
birds. 
B [1] 
