THE ORNITHOLOGICAL GUIDE. 129 



tiful adaptations of cause to produce the intended 

 effects so apparent throughout the creation, and thus 

 the work is the more fitted for the young than if it 

 were merely a record of facts and observations. 



A History of British Animals, exhibiting the descriptive characters 

 and systematical arrangement of the genera, and species of Quadrupeds, 

 Birds, Reptiles, Fishes, Molusca, and Radiata of Britain : By John 

 Fleming, D.D. 1828. 



A Compendium of British Animals would have been 

 more descriptive of the nature of the work than a 

 History : the descriptions of birds are chiefly taken 

 up by the plumage department. The classification 

 of the Ornithological portion is bad, very bad : as an 

 instance we may cite the following ; at page 72 the 

 Yellow "Warbler (Silvia melodia,) and the Hedge 

 Warbler (Silvia loquax,) are ranked in the genus 

 Kinglet (Regulus,) while the Wood Warbler (Silvia 

 sibilansj agreeing precisely in appearance, habits, 

 and structure with the other two Warblers, is ranked 

 in the genus Fauvet (Ficedula.) The Robin Red- 

 breast and the Wall Redstart, again, are placed in 

 the same genus ! The whole arrangement of the 

 genera is as wrong as a perverted ingenuity could 

 well make it. The volume would, however, make a 

 useful one if it could be remodelled by some compe- 

 tent person, in whose hands it would serve as a 

 valuable foundation — nothing more. 



