THE ORNITHOLOGICAL GUIDE. 109 



feathers are tinted and tempered in the fury of the 

 blast; and they acquire not their full depth and 

 lustre till they have borne that for four successive 

 winters ; and so it would be vain to hope that we 

 could either obtain or preserve thern in confinement." 

 Feath. Tribes, vol. I. p. 116. The Falcons, and 

 Owls are equally well represented — every feather is 

 distinct, yet beautifully blended. The Beeaters, 

 Orioles, Waxwings, Shrikes, Swallows, Pigeons, 

 Crows, (CorvusJ and Tarmigans, (Lagopus) are 

 equally well executed, but when we approach the 

 Warbler-Family, (Silviadce) and the Finch-Family, 

 (FringillideeJ we are forced to exclaim, " O ! what 

 a falling off is there !" There are, true enough, 

 exceptions, as the Tree Sparrow, the Mountain 

 Linnet, and the Tits, but the greater number are 

 about on a par with those of Lewin. There is yet 

 another fault : many species are frequently crammed 

 into one plate ; thus the male and female of the 

 following species are all huddled into one plate — 

 the Tree Sparrow, the Alder Goldwing, the Thistle 

 Goldwing, the Garden Linnet, the Mountain Linnet, 

 and the Haw Grosbeak. The preceding plate is 

 not much better. In this will be found arranged 

 (or rather disarranged) the House Sparrow, the 

 Chaff Finch, the Mountain Finch, the Redpoll 

 Linnet, and the Green Grosbeak ; and thus, inde- 

 pendent of the badness of the execution, it wall 

 be seen that all order is set at defiance. If an 

 author is partial to having several species on 



