166 | Notice of British Naturalists. 
points appeared necessary to be attended to. One was to ascer- 
tain, as far as practicable, the additions which had been made, 
of late years, to our list of British animals. * * * The other 
important point, was to take care that the descriptions should, as 
far as possible, be obtained from the animals themselves, and 
nothing inserted upon the credit of other writers, which was capa-— 
ble of being verified by personal observation. 'The day is forever 
gone by, in which unscientific compilations will be thought to be 
of any service to Zoology; so far from advancing its progress, it 
may be said unhesitatingly, that they tend only to retard it.” 
_ Hitherto, however much the birds themselves might have been 
attended to, their eggs and nidification, had been ina great meas- 
ure neglected. Beautiful as are the former, and wonderful in 
their construction as are the nests; no one had as yet thought 
this branch worthy of separate attention. A French writer had, 
we believe, attempted a work, on this portion of the natural his- 
tory of his own country ; but had never completed it ; and it was 
left to Mr. Wituiam Hewrrson, to present the public, with the 
first original and well executed book, on this interesting topic. 
About 1831, he began to publish by subscription, in numbers; 
“ British Oology, being illustrations of the eggs of British 
birds,” &c. It is in octavo, and consists of colored lithographic 
plates of the eggs, each one the natural size, and colored with 
great fidelity. A short description of the nest and eggs, accom- 
panies each plate. ‘To draw an egg, so that on paper it may ap 
pear natural, is no easy task, but being an excellent artist, he has 
accomplished his labors with great credit. The work now fin- 
ished, is in three thin volumes, and contains all the British eggs: 
with the exception of a few of the very rarest. 
Mr. Hewitson, who is still a young man, is descended from a 
old and highly respectable family in Newcastle upon TyD® 
Whena mere child he manifested a strong taste for drawing, and 
was fond of copying the figures and vignettes in Bewick’s works. 
To these books, thus early put into his hands, he owes, we believe; 
his fondness for this science. He had the advantage of a liberal 
education, and became a civil engineer. Ashe grew up, his taste 
for drawing connected with natural history increased, and all his 
leisure hours he spent in the fields and woods. Like most boys 
he was fond of taking birds’ nests; but unlike most boys, he be 
came intimately acquainted with the species and varieties, and he 
