234 BIRD LIFE IN ENGLAND. 



which Dryden translates with half the ring of the original 



" As when the dove her rocky hold forsakes 

 Roused in a fright her sounding wings she shakes ; 

 The cavern rings with clattering : out she flies 

 And leaves her callow care, and cleaves the skies; 

 At first she flutters but at length she springs 

 To smoother flight, and shoots upon her wings." 



But such are incidental to other matter. Amongst the 

 books on English birds which figure conspicuously on the 

 naturalist's shelves and are dear to his leisure hours are 

 such, for instance, as Yarrel's " History of British Birds," 

 with upwards of 1070 engravings on wood containing accu- 

 rate figures, with accompanying description of every known 

 variety of British, bird ; and this has from the first taken 

 its pos^ion as the standard authority on the subject in 

 our language. Yarrel has been edited by Richardson, New- 

 man, and others, and not neglected by the publishers. 



Bewick's " History of British Land and Water Birds " 

 is almost more famous for its woodcuts, full of animation and 

 a quaint delicacy, than for its letterpress. 



These volumes, in their many reprints and with their 

 supplements, belong, we must confess, rather to the province 

 of the bibliophile than to the ornithologist. Of the many 

 issues, that of Newcastle, bearing date 1826, was the first 

 edition in which the " Supplement " was incorporated, and 

 also the last edition which the author-artist saw through 

 the press. The paper on which this edition was printed 

 is reputed to show the delicacies of the engravings to the 

 best advantage. But, great as is our respect for this 

 limner, he must be put down rather as an engraver than 

 as a naturalist. 



Then there is Sir William Jardine's " Naturalist's 

 Library," a bold attempt at summarizing Nature in forty 

 volumes, more suited to the taste of the first half of the 

 century than to this latter part. Sir W. Jardine's coadjutors 

 in this admirable series were Swainson, Selby, Macgillivray, 

 Waterhouse, Duncan, Hamilton, Smith, and others. There 



