INTRODUCTORY REMARK?. 153 



calculable advantages of a division of llabour^ in the 

 most comprehensive sense of the principle. Before the 

 institution of the Zoological Society, we question whe- 

 ther such an assemblage of rasorial birds existed in this 

 kingdom ; but now that we have another society, re- 

 stricting itself alone to this branch of zoology, it is 

 natural to suppose that, in a short time, we may find 

 that the number of the Rasores alive in their collection 

 will be doubled, or perhaps trebled, to those we now 

 possess. 



From what we have seen of the manner of keeping 

 the rasorial and the cage birds in the two Zoological 

 Gardens of the metropolis, it appears to us that both 

 are open to much improvement. The paramount object 

 should be, as we conceive, to give them as great an 

 appearance of being in a natural habitation as the cir- 

 cumstances of their confinement Aviil possibly admit, 

 and to preserve all the exotic species securely sheltered 

 from those sudden changes in the atmosphere which are, 

 unfortunately, the great characteristic of this country. 

 The misery which these poor little birds exhibit in 

 themselves, with their feathers ruffled, and their heads 

 drawn up between their shoulders, in the spring and 

 autumn, when exposed in open cages, is really me- 

 lancholy to witness ; and takes away more than half the 

 pleasure the spectator would otherwise feel : instead of 

 life, activity, and animation, we plainly see misery and 

 wretchedness exhibited in the deportment of all but 

 our native hardy birds, which nobody cares to look at, 

 because they may be seen every where. The only way 

 to remedy this, is to have the whole collection of exotic 

 birds under glass, on the same principle as the admirable 

 and elegant building erected by Mr. Cross at the Surrey 

 Gardens for his quadrupeds, and which, being pro- 

 perly ventilated, might easily be kept, during the colder 

 months, at a fixed temperature. In lieu, also, of the 

 formal straight perches, and gravelled bottoms to the 

 separate cages, shrubs of different kinds might be intro- 

 duced, either permanently or in pots, capable of being 



