INTRODUCTION. 



parts. The first reached a tenth volume, and 

 contains two hundred and forty plates ; the second 

 was discontinued at the third volume, and with 

 the hundred and fourteenth plate. Both are 

 meritorious works, continued under the disadvan- 

 tages of great outlay and a limited circulation. 



About the same date, or during the twenty 

 years of the conclusion and commencement of the 

 eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, great pro- 

 gress was making in all branches of zoology, and 

 works upon various plans were pouring from the 

 British and foreign presses ; but there were two 

 British works published now, which, though their 

 characters were very different, marked, we think, 

 the commencement of a second era in the advance 

 of British ornithology, and promoted, in different 

 ways, the love and knowledge of the science. In 

 1797, " Land Birds," by Thomas Bewick, was 

 published, having no splendid exterior, or deli- 

 cately coloured plates. This work gained, and 

 has kept its reputation, from the fidelity and cha- 

 racter peculiarly its own, which was infused into 

 the wood-cuts, and at the period of its appearance 

 contained the most complete list of our species, 

 generally plainly and concisely described. Its 

 price was moderate, and the vignettes, which filled 

 up the blank parts of the pages, rendered it popu- 

 lar from their humour. The later editions have 

 kept pace with the modern advances, and are now 



