xii INTRODUCTION. 



no means neglected. The fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh editions of 

 Bewick were published, and the fifth to the twelfth editions of Gilbert 

 White. Several works of more or less excellence on British birds appeared, 

 written by Graves (1811-21), Hunt (1815-22), Selby (1821-33), Fleming 

 (1828), and Mudie (1834). Various contributions to London's ' Magazine 

 of Natural History ' and other periodicals testify to the interest felt in local 

 ornithology, whilst the attention of British naturalists was drawn to the 

 birds of North America by the works of Wilson, Audubon, and Swainson ; 

 nor must the influence of the writings of Temminck and Cuvier and other 

 continental authors be overlooked. 



In 1831 and during the five following years Hewitson published the first 

 edition of his ' British Oology/ The plates are good, but several of the 

 eggs are incorrect and the letterpress is very meagre. 



The close of this period was marked by the commencement of two im- 

 portant undertakings, the ' Proceedings ' and ' Transactions ' of the Zoolo- 

 gical Society of London, and the series of large folio illustrated works of 

 John Gould. But by far the most important work of this or any other 

 period was the publication of Naumann's ' Birds of Germany/ which was 

 commenced in 1820 and completed in 1844. Twelve octavo volumes of 

 about 600 pages each testify to the industry of the writer, whilst a careful 

 study of the contents proves him to have possessed a knowledge of the various 

 plumages of the birds of which he treats, their habits, songs, call-notes, 

 food, and all the numerous details of their history, which a lifetime 

 devoted to their observation was able to teach, not only unrivalled by any 

 author before or since, but far above and beyond all hope of rivalry. 

 Naumann was not a compiler in any sense. Want of daily access to a 

 good library or a well-furnished museum made the synonymy of the 

 work imperfect and the geographical distribution incomplete; but, with 

 the exception of the breeding-habits of birds which retire to the Arctic 

 regions for this purpose, he has left little unsaid for after writers to 

 record. Had his work only been translated into English, half the nonsense 

 that subsequent ornithologists have written on birds would never have 

 appeared. 



1835-1860. Ornithology made rapid strides during the next quarter of 

 a century; at least a dozen new editions or reprints of White's ' Selborne' 

 were issued, and the eighth and last edition of Bewick appeared in 1847. 

 The latter work was thenceforward superseded by Yarrell (183743) and 

 Morris (1850-57). The woodcuts in the former work are far inferior to 

 those of Bewick in artistic merit ; but they have a charm of their own, 

 especially to those who appreciate high finish. The letterpress contains 

 but little original matter ; but it is compiled with considerable judgment. 

 It is obvious that Yarrell's personal acquaintance with birds was small, 

 though he was furnished with much valuable information from Bond 



