154 THE ORNITHOLOGICAL GUIDE. 



details must be barren of utility, and fit only to 

 amuse " babes and sucklings." Whoever has read 

 the description of the Eagles, the Avoset, the Rook, 

 the Green Woodpecker, the Wood Lark, the Tits, 

 the Natatores — or any other parts of the volumes, 

 and is not imbued with the spirit of the author, we 

 should pronounce to be " too cold or too callous 

 ever to become an Ornithologist." 



The work is nevertheless not without its defects. 

 In the first place the classification is bad. Thus the 

 Kinglets are classed with the Wren: they would 

 have been much more appropriately placed with the 

 Tits : then again the genera Reedling, Redstart, 

 Fauvets, Freeling, &c, &c, are all lumped together 

 under the name Curruca, while the Duck Family is 

 very minutely divided. Then again our author com- 

 mences with the Rasores instead of the Raptores, 

 and all throughout there are similar instances : he 

 should have taken Selbv for his guide. The Frin- 

 g ill idee is given in the second volume devoted to the 

 water birds ! This however we can scarcely impute 

 to the author, but looks like a trick of the publisher 

 to get the volumes of equal thickness ! The fron- 

 tispieces (the Eagle and the Gannet) are worthy of 

 the work they adorn, but we think the rest of the 

 plates would be better any where but in the Fea- 

 thered Tribes; some of them, as the Nightjar, the 

 Lapwing, the Jack Snipe, the Marsh Reedling, &c, 

 would disgrace any publication, and those whose 

 execution may be pronounced almost perfect, as the 



