16 



ORNITHOLOGY 



very great, but was chiefly confined to Britain, for (as has been 

 already stated) the extraordinary views of its adherents found little 

 favour on the continent of Europe. The purely artificial character 

 of the System of Linmeus and bis successors had been perceived, 

 and menwereat a loss to find a substitute for it. The new doctrine, 

 loudly proclaiming the discovery of a " Natural " System, led away 

 many from the steady practice which should have followed the 

 teaching of Cuvier (though be in Ornithology had not been able to 

 art up to the principles he had lain down) and from the extended 

 study of Comparative Anatomy. Moreover, it veiled the honest 

 attempts that wire making both in France and Germany to find 

 real grounds for establishing an improved state of things, and con- 

 atly the labours of De Blainville, Ettenne, Geofkroy St- 

 Hilaiee, and L'Herminibe, of Mekkbm, Johannes Muller, 

 and NlTZSOH— to say nothing of others— were almost wholly un- 

 known on this side of the Channel, and even the value of the 

 tigations of British ornithotomists of high merit, such as 

 Macartney and Maccillivray, was almost completely over- 

 looked. True it is that there were not wanting other men in these 

 islands whose common sense refused to accept the metaphorical 

 doctrine and the mystical jargon of the Quinarians, but so strenu- 

 ously and persistently bad the latter asserted their infallibility, and 

 so vigorously bad they assailed any who ventured to doubt it, that 

 most peaceable ornithologists found it best to bend to the furious 

 blast, and in some sort to acquiesce at least in tin- phraseology of 

 the self-styled interpreters of Creative Will. But, while thus 

 lamenting this unfortunate perversion into a mistaken channel of 

 ornithological energy, we must not over-blame those who caused it. 

 Macleay indeed never pretended to a high position in this branch 

 of science, bis tastes lying in the direction of Entomology ; but few 

 of their countrymen knew more of Birds than did Swainson and 

 \ i ;ors; and, while the latter, as editor for many years of the 

 Zoological Journal, and the first Secretary of the Zoological Society, 

 lias especial claims to the regard of all zoologists, so the former's 

 indefatigable pursuit of Natural History, and conscientious labour 

 in its behalf— among other ways by means of his graceful pencil — 

 deserve to be remembered as a set-off against the injury he unwit- 

 tingly caused. 

 Fauna;. It is now incumbent upon us to take a rapid survey 

 of the ornithological works which come more or less under 

 the designation of "Faunae"; 1 but these are so numerous 

 that it will be necessary to limit this survey, as before 

 indicated, to those countries alone which form the homes 

 of English people, or are commonly visited by them in 

 ordinary travel. 



Beginning with our Antipodes, it is hardly needful to go further 

 New back than Mr Buller's beautiful Birds of New Zcalaml (4to, 

 Zealand. 1872-73), with coloured plates by Mr Keulemans, since the publi- 

 cation of which the same author has issued a Manual of the 

 oj New Zealand (Svo, 18S2), fouuded on the former; but 

 justice requires that mention be made of the labours of G. R. 

 Gray, first in the Appendix to Dieffenbach's Travels in New 

 Z aland (1843) and then in the ornithological portion of the Zoology 

 i//' the Voyage of H.M.S. "Erebus " and " Terror," begun in 1861, 

 but left unfinished from the following year until completed by 

 Mr Sharpe in 1876. A considerable number of valuable papers 

 on the Ornithology of the country by Drs Hector and Von Haast, 

 Prof. Hutton, Mr Potts, and others are to be found in the Trans- 

 actions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 

 Australia. Passing to Australia, we have the first good description of some 

 of its Birds in the several old voyages and in Latham's works before 

 mentioned (pages 6 ami 8). Shaw's Zoology of New Holland (4to, 

 1794) ad led those of a few more, as did J. W. Lewin's Natural 

 History of the Birds of New South Wales (4to, 1822), which reached 

 a third edition in 1838. Gould's great Birds of Australia has been 

 already named, and he subsequently reproduced with some additions 

 the text of (hat work under the title of Handbook to the Birds of 

 Australia (2 vols. Svo, 1865). In 1866 Mr Diggles commenced a 

 similar publication, The Ornithology of Australia, but the coloured 

 plates, though fairly drawn, are not comparable to those of his pre- 

 decessor. This is still incomplete, though the parts that have 

 appeared have been collected to form two volumes and issued with 

 title-pages. Some notices of Australian Birds by Mr Ramsay and 

 othi rs are to be found in the 1'roe,,, lings of the Linmran Society of 

 Ni w South Wales and of the Iloyal Society of Tasmania. 

 Ceylon. Coming to our Indian possessions, and beginning with Ceylon, 

 we have Kelaart's Prodromvs Faunas Zeylanicss (Svo, 1852), and 

 [mirable Birds of Ceylon by Capt. Logge (4to, 187S-80), with 

 coloured plates by Mr Keulemans of all the peculiar species. It is 



hardly possible to name any 1 k that has been more conseien- 



India. tiously executed than this. In regard to continental India many 



of the more important publications have been named in a former 

 article (Birds, hi. pp. 702, 763), and since that was written the 

 chief work that has appeared is Blyth's Mammals and Birds of 

 Burma (Svo, lS75). a Jerdon's Birds of India (Svo, 1862-61; re- 

 printed 1877) still reigns supreme as the sole comprehensive work 

 on the Ornithology of the Peninsula. A very fairly executed 

 compilation on the subject by an anonymous writer is to be found 

 in a late edition of the Cyclopaedia of India published at Madras. 

 It is needless to observe that Stray Feathers, an ornithological 

 journal for India and its dependencies, and maintained with much 

 spirit by Mr A. 0. Hume, contains many interesting and some 

 valuable papers. 



In regard to South Africa, besides the well-known work of South 

 Le Vaillant already mentioned, there is the second volume of Sir Africa. 

 Andrew Smith's Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa (4to, 

 1838-42), which is devoted to birds. This is an important but 

 cannot be called a satisfactory work. Its one hundred and four- 

 teen plates by Ford truthfully represent one hundred and twenty- 

 two of the mounted specimens obtained by the author in his 

 explorations into the interior. Mr Layard's handy Bints of South 

 Africa (Svo, 1867), though by no means free from faults, has 

 much to recommend it. A so-called new edition of it by Mr 

 Sharpe has since appeared (1S75-84), but is executed on a plan 

 so wholly different that it must be regarded as a distinct work. 

 Andersson's Notes on the Birds of Samara Band (8vo, 1872) has 

 been carefully edited by Mr Gurney, whose knowledge of South- 

 African ornithology is perhaps greater than that of any one else. 

 It is much to be regretted that of the numerous sporting books 

 that treat of this part of the world so few give any important 

 information respecting the Birds. 



Of special works relating to the British West Indies, Waterton's West 

 well-known Wanderings has passed through several editions since Indies, 

 its first appearance in 1825, and must be mentioned here, though, 

 strictly speaking, much of the country he traversed was not British 

 territory. To IJr Cabanis we are indebted for the ornithological 

 results of Richard Schom burgh's researches given in the third volume 

 (pp. 662-765) of the latter's Reiscn in Britisch-Guiana (Svo, 1848), 

 and then in Leotaud's Oiscau.r de Tile de la Trinidad (8vo, 

 1866). Of the Antilles there is only to be named Mr Gossc's 

 excellent Birds of Jamaica (12mo, 1847), together with its Hlustra- 

 tions (sm. fob, 1849) beautifully executed by him. A nominal 

 list, with references, of the Birds of the island is contained iu the 

 Handbook of Jamaica for 1881 (pp. 103-117). 



So admirable a " List of Faunal Publications relating to North North 

 American Ornithology" up to the year 1878 has been given by Dr America. 

 Cones as an appendix to bis Birds of the Colorado Valley (pp. 567- 

 784) that nothing more of the kind is wanted except to notice the 

 chief separate works which have since appeared. These may be 

 said to be Mr Stearns's New England Bird life (2 vols. Svo, 

 1881-83), revised by Dr Cones, and the several editions of his own 

 Check List, of North American Birds (Svo, 1882), and Key to North 

 American Birds (1884) ; while it may be added that the conclud- 

 ing volumes of the North American Birds of Prof. Baird, the late 

 Dr Brewer, and Mr Ridgway (the first three of which were pub- 

 lished in 1S74) are expected to be issued about the time that these 

 lines will meet the reader's eye. Yet some of the older works are 

 still of sufficient importance to be especially mentioned here, and 

 especially that of Alexander Wilson, whose American Ornithology, 

 originally published between 180S and 1814, has gone through more 

 editions than there is room to specify, though mention should be 

 made of those issued in Great Britain, by Jameson (4 vols. 16mo, 

 1831), and Jardine (3 vols. Svo, 1832). The former of these has 

 the entire text, but no plates ; the latter reproduces the plates, but 

 the text is in places much condensed, and excellent notes are added. 

 A continuation of Wilson's work, under the same title and on the 

 same plan, was issued by Bonaparte between 1S25 and 1833, and 

 most of tho later editions include the work of both authors. The 

 works of Audubon, with their continuations by Cassin and Mr 

 Elliot, and the Fauna Boreali- Americana of Richardson and 

 Swainson have already been noticed (pages 11 and 15); but they 

 need naming here, as also does Nuttall's Manualofthe Ornithology 

 of the United States and of Canada (2vols., 1832-34 ; 2d ed., 1840) ; 

 the Birds of Long Island (Svo, 1844) by Giraud, remarkable for 

 its excellent account of the habits of shore-birds ; and of course tho 

 Birds of North America (4to, 1858) by Prof. Baird, with the co- 

 operation of Cassin and Mr Lawrence, which originally formed a 

 volume (ix. ) of wdiat are known as the " Pacific Railroad Reports." 

 Apart from these special works the scientific journals of Boston, 

 New York, Philadelphia, and Washington contain innumerable 

 papers on the Ornithology of the country, while in 1S76 the 

 Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club began to appear and 

 continued until 1884, when it was superseded by The Auk, estab- 

 lished solely for the promotion of Ornithology in America, and 



1 A very useful list of more general scope is given as the Appendix 

 i" an address by Mr Sclater to the British Association in 1875 (Report, 

 pt, li. pp. 111-133). 



- Tins is a posthumous publication, nominally forming an extra 

 number of the Journal of the Asiatic Society; but, since it was separ- 

 ately issued, it is entitled to notice here. 



