172 Zoology. 



II. Chronological Account of the Principal Accessions to 

 THE Collection of Birds to the end op 1905. 



In the foregoing pages I have given an account of the formation 

 of the bird-collection so far as it could be gathered from different 

 pubHcations. No actual registers were kept during the early days 

 of the Museum, and it was not until 1837 that a formal register 

 was started. Before that date G. R. Gray had commenced a 

 MS. catalogue of the collection of Birds, and this exists in 

 several vellum-bound books, most of which are still to be found 

 in the bird-room. They are occasionally of service in hunting up 

 the history of some of the ancient specimens. 



As already stated, the specimens from Sir Hans Sloane's 

 collection have long ago j^erished, and of those presented by 

 Sir Joseph Banks but one specimen now survives, as far as 

 I can discover. Some few birds were afterwards received 

 from the Northern Land expeditions, being presented by Sir 

 John Richardson, Admiral Sir George Back, and others ; but 

 the specimens described by Swainson and Richardson in the 

 " Fauna Boreali- Americana " do not appear to have been pre- 

 sented to the nation in their entirety. During the time that 

 the Zoological Society of London possessed a museum of its 

 own, most of the birds collected by the exploring voyages, 

 such as the Beagle, the Sulphur, and other ships, were given 

 to the Society, instead of to the British Museum. When 

 the Zoological Society decided to give up its museum these 

 valuable collections were acquired by the British Museum, but 

 the task of selection (presumably l)y G. R. Gray) was not too 

 carefully performed, and several types were overlooked, which 

 ultimately found their way into private museums, such as that of 

 the late T. C. Eyton, for instance. 



When the Banksian collection of birds was presented I have 

 no record. It is certain that some of the specimens procured 

 during Captain Cook's voyages were presented, on the return 

 of the ships, to the Leverian Museum, Bullock's Museum, etc., 

 while others still remained in Sir Joseph Banks' possession. 

 Thus much we may gather from a study of Latham's " General 

 Synopsis of Birds," which mentions several species as being in 

 the above-named collections. 



