ORNITHOLOGY. 



551 



History, history and manners of the birds of Norway. The same 

 "— v~-" author published a work under the title of Ornithologische 

 Beitrage, in 1824. M. Faber's excellent little volume, the 

 Prodromus der Islandischen Ornithologie, appeared in 

 1822. It contains most interesting accounts of the birds 

 of Iceland, especially the aquatic kinds ; and not less va- 

 luable is his later publication, Uber das Leben der hoch- 

 nordischen Vogel, 1825, in which we have many acceptable 

 observations on the geographical distribution, and the 

 modes of life, of northern species. While on the subject of 

 northern birds, we need scarcely recall to the reader's re- 

 membrance the various appendices to the Voyages of Cap- 

 tains Parry and Franklin, — Captain Sabine's Memoir on 

 the Birds of Greenland (Linn. Trans, vol. xii.), — or the 

 beautiful work by Dr Richardson and Mr Swainson on the 

 birds of Northern America, which constitutes the second 

 volume of the Fauna Boreali- Americana, 1831. 



We have few systematic works devoted to the Ornitho- 

 logy of the more southern countries of the European con- 

 tinent. We are ourselves acquainted only by name with 

 the Ornitologia delV Europa Meridionale (dedicatio sig- 

 nata 1772), in fol. max., by Clement Bernini, a teacher of 

 drawing. The birds of France in general are described by 

 M. Vieillot in the corresponding portion of the Faune Fran- 

 caise,an octavo work, still in course of publication; and those 

 of Provence in particular, by M. Polydore Roux in his Or- 

 nithologie Provencals, 1825. Of a more general character, 

 though not without its bearings oh our present subject, is 

 the Histoire Naturelle de F Europe Meridionale by M. Risso 

 of Nice, in five volumes 8vo, 1826. We have already had 

 occasion to name the Storia Naturale degli Uccelli, pub- 

 lished at Florence in 1767 ; and Cetti's more restricted one, 

 Gli Uccelli di Sardigna, 1776. In more recent times 

 (1811), Professor Bonelli of Turin published a Catalogue des 

 Oiseaux du Piemont, containing two hundred and sixty- 

 two species. In 1822, Giambatista Baseggio inserted in 

 the twenty-eighth volume of the Biblioteca Italiana an 

 enumeration of the birds observed by him in the neigh- 

 bourhood of 'Bassano, amounting to a hundred and thirty- 

 seven species. In 1823, Fortunato Luigi Naccari printed 

 at Treviso his Ornitologia Venela, ossia Catalogo degli 

 Uccelli della provincia di Venezia, in which he notices 

 two hundred and six species. In the same year Savi the 

 younger published, at Pisa, his Catalogo degli Uccelli del- 

 la Provincia Pisana, e loro Toscana Sinonimia. The spe- 

 cies are classed in accordance with M. Temminck's sys- 

 tem, and amount to two hundred and twenty. From 1819 

 to 1826, Professor Ranzani of Bologna gave forth his ex- 

 cellent Elementi di Zoologia, of which the third volume, 

 consisting of nine parts, is devoted to the natural history 

 of birds. It is, however, a general system, treating of 

 exotic as well as of indigenous kinds ; yet a good deal may 

 be gleaned from it regarding the Italian species. A work 

 of more special interest is the Specchio comparativo delle 

 Ornithologie di Roma e di Filadelfia, by Carlo Bonaparte, 

 commonly called the Prince of Musignano. In this slight 

 but highly interesting volume (republished in the Nuovo 

 Giornale de' Letterati of Pisa), the author compares the 

 Ornithology of two distant regions of Europe and America, 

 lying, however, under nearly the same latitude, and re- 

 cords his observations on their history and manners. Of 

 the species of the Roman territory we had previously 

 scarcely any knowledge, and the Prince makes us ac- 

 quainted with not fewer than two hundred and forty- 

 seven. By the same author we have also Osservazioni 

 sulla Seconda Edizione del Regno Animale del Baron Cu- 

 vier, inserted in the tenth and eleventh fasciculi of the 

 Annali di Storia Naturale of Bologna ; and he has more 



recently commenced the Iconografia della Fauna Italica, History. 

 Rome, 1832, — a sumptuous lithographic work, in large s — "~v~~" 

 quarto, devoted to Italian zoology. Not more than half a 

 dozen numbers have as yet appeared, and these contain 

 but few examples of the feathered race. Though not re- 

 lating to Italy, we may here mention our author's other 

 works, viz. American Ornithology, or the Natural History of 

 Birds inhabiting the United States, not given by Wilson, 

 with coloured figures, three volumes quarto, Philadelphia, 

 1825-28 (only the land-birds have yet been published) ; — 

 Observations on the Nomenclature of Wilson's Ornithology, 

 Philadelphia, 1828 ; — and Genera of North American Birds, 

 with a Synopsis of the species found within the territory of 

 the United States, New York, 1828 (published in the An- 

 nals of the Lyceum of that city). The birds of Liguria 

 are enumerated and briefly described, particularly the im- 

 mature conditions of the plumage, by Girolamo Calvi in his 

 Catalogo d' Ornitologia di Genova, 1828. 



The latest but most important work with which we are 

 acquainted on the birds of Italy, is the Ornitologia Tos- 

 cana of Professor Savi, in three vols. 8vo, with additional 

 synoptical tables, Pisa, 1827-31. Though more specially 

 devoted to the birds of Tuscany, it also contains descrip- 

 tions of all the other Italian species, and maybe regarded 

 as a most valuable addition to our knowledge of the 

 feathered tribes of Europe. The southern position and de- 

 lightful climate of the Italian Peninsula induce the wan- 

 dering wings of many species elsewhere rara aves to wend 

 their way towards the olive groves and richly laden fig- 

 trees of that favoured land, — thus connecting the Ornitho- 

 logy of Europe with that of Africa and other sultry re- 

 gions. 



We may be thought, in some of our preceding notices, 

 to have entered too minutely into the enumeration of de- 

 scriptive local works, but we have been guided in so do- 

 ing by two considerations : 1st, That none of our English 

 writers ever make any allusion to Italian Ornithology, ex- 

 cept by casual reference to Carlo Bonaparte ; and, 2dly, 

 that Buffon has recorded as his opinion, that " le seul 

 moyen d'avancer l'ornithologie historique, seroit de faire 

 l'histoire particuliere des oiseaux de chaque pays ; d'abord 

 de ceux d'une seule province, ensuite de ceux d'une pro- 

 vince voisine, puis de ceux d'une autre plus eloignee ; re- 

 unir apres cela ces histoires particulieres pour composer 

 celle de tous les oiseaux d'une meme climat ; faire la meme 

 chose dans tous les pays et dans tous les differens climats ; 

 comparer ensuite ces histoires particulieres, les combiner 

 pour en tirer les faits, et former un corps entier de toutes 

 ces parties separees." ' 



The Natural History of British Birds, by Donovan, in ten 

 volumes octavo, is a work of no great merit. Its period 

 of publication extends from 1799 to 1816. 



To no one of our contemporaries is Ornithology more 

 deeply indebted than to M. Temminck. His Histoire Na- 

 turelle Generate des Pigeons et des Gallinacees, three volumes 

 octavo, appeared in 1813-15. The portion which concerns 

 the pigeons was also published in folio, with beautiful co- 

 loured plates, by Madame Knipp. His Manuel d' Ornitho- 

 logie, ou Tableau Systematique des Oiseaux qui se trouvent en 

 Europe, 1815, consisted at first of a single octavo volume; 

 but a greatly improved and extended edition in two vo- 

 lumes appeared in 1820. Whatever difference of opinion 

 may prevail in regard to the author's system, naturalists 

 are agreed that this is by far the most valuable work we yet 

 possess on the birds of Europe. Its main excellence con- 

 sists in the attention bestowed upon the sexual distinc- 

 tions, and the successive changes of plumage from youth 

 to age. The first volume contains, under the title ofAna- 



1 H'uioirc Nat. des Oissauz, Plan de l'Ouvrage. 



UNIVERSITY Of 

 ILLINOIS LIBRARV 



