Fresidenfs Address. 13 



a passage, it seems to me, not unworthy even of Linnaeus or 

 Cuvier ! We justly accredit Linngeus with the merit of having 

 first clearly defined and illustrated the zoological terms, class, 

 order, genus, and species. But it is interesting to find words 

 like these in the pages of a Scottish observer who preceded 

 him by so many years. Perhaps, however, the best way to in- 

 dicate what Sibbald did in this, the systematic department of 

 zoology, is to give a free rendering of his divisions under 

 the class 



BIEDS. 



A. Large Birds. 



I. Terrestrial, or those which frequent dry land. 



1. Flesh Eaters ; hooked beak and talons. 



Divisions, Diurnce, as Hawks. 

 Nodurnm, as Owls. 



2. Grain Eaters; with straight or less hooked beak 



and talons. 



B. Little Birds. 



1. Tenuirostres ; a, Tail of one colour. Hedge Sparrow. 

 h, Tail of two colours, Wagtail. 



II. Aquatic, or those which seek their food in the water, or 



near it. 



1. Fissipedes ; «, Waders, as Herons ; h, Swimmers, as 



Water Hen. 

 c, Slender-billed, as the Stilt ; d, Short- 

 billed, as the Lapwing. 



2. Palmipides ; (1.) Tridactylm ; a, Wanting the hind 



toe ; h, Having the hind toe free. 

 (2.) Latirostres, as the Swan. 

 He concludes his chapters on birds with a list of those of 

 whose relations he is ignorant, or of which he may not have 

 any personal knowledge. The first on this list is the " Gare " 

 — "Avis Gare dicto, corvo marino similis, ovo maximo" — 

 the Great Auk {Alca iiwpennis), which we know from other 

 sources was rare even in Sibbald's day. In the list of birds 

 a great deal of curious information is given as to localities, 

 habits, and uses, both as food and " physic,' all deserving the 

 attention of young ornithologists. 



I need not follow the history of Scottish zoology farther 



