218 Bibliographical Notices. 



* "^^'BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



The Natural History of Ireland. — Vols. I. and II. Birds^ compri- 

 ^. sing the Orders Raptores, InsessoreSy Rasores, and Grallatores. 



By William Thompson, Esq. — London : Reeve, Benham and 



Reeve. 



The first and second volumes of a work bearing the above title now 

 lie upon our table ; and the portion devoted exclusively to the Birds 

 of Ireland will be completed in the third, which we believe is now in 

 an advanced stage of preparation. Two volumes out of the three on 

 this subject having now appeared, we feel we are in a position to state 

 to our readers the plan and general arrangement of the work, and to 

 express our opinion of its value as a contribution to our scientific 

 literature. 



In the pages of this journal, under its former title, there was com- 

 menced in the year 1838 a series of papers by Mr. Thompson on the 

 Birds of Ireland, which was continued at intervals until 1843. It 

 related to the birds comprised in the orders Raptores, Insessores and 

 Rasores. All that was valuable in those papers has been transferred 

 to the first volume of the present work and to the early part of the 

 second volume, but with copious and valuable additions. Neither the 

 Grallatores nor the Natatores have hitherto been systematically 

 treated of by the author. 



It is obvious that the two volumes now before us present in many 

 respects a striking contrast. One treats of the birds of prey, and also 

 of those *' feathered choristers" which give melody to every brake, 

 or whose graceful and easy flight realise to our eye the very poetry of 

 motion. It comprises the birds of two orders {Raptores and Inses- 

 sores). The other also treats of two orders (Rasores and Grallatores), 

 and brings before us the heathy slope on which the grouse is sought 

 by the sportsman, the bog with its "wisps" of snipe, and the calm 

 sea-bay where flocks of dunlins, comprising many hundred individuals, 

 dazzle the eye one moment by their brightness, and, in their changeful 

 flight, become invisible the next. Such and so varied are the contents 

 of these two volumes. We shall now state the purpose for which 

 they appear to have been written, and a few of the leading points of 

 interest which they embrace. 



The author states his opinion — in which we entirely concur — that 

 " every country should possess a natural history specially appertain- 

 ing to itself." For such a work he has been for a quarter of a cen- 

 tury assiduously collecting the materials, on nearly every branch of 

 which, as he himself informs us, he has matter almost ready for the 

 press. The present volumes he expressly states are " put forward 

 merely as supplementary to the several excellent works already pub- 

 lished on British Ornithology." For this reason, descriptions of form 

 or plumage are in most instances omitted; when introduced they 

 refer to some rare visitant, where critical examination and measure- 

 ment seem, from the circumstances of each case, to be demanded. 



In Mr. Thompson's " x\dditions to the Fauna of Ireland," and in 

 all his former papers, our readers may recollect the precision with 



