INTRODUCTION. 3 



he intended to embrace was a very large one ; and it is not surprising- that thirty-three years should have 

 been insufficient to complete less than a quarter of the undertaking. Species from Palestine to the westward, 

 and from the Moluccas to the east, have been figured in the ' Birds of Asia ;' and it is equally certain 

 that a larger number of new species have been discovered by ornithologists in the course of a year 

 than were figured by Mr. Gould in the single part of the 'Birds of Asia' which he issued annually. 

 It may not be uninteresting, however, to glance rapidly over the countries included in Asia by the 

 author of the present work, and to estimate the increase of knowledge which has taken place since 

 he commenced his gigantic task. Of the ornithology of Siberia but little was known up to the year 

 1850, beyond the writings of the old Russian travellers Pallas and Gmelin. Since the above-mentioned 

 date, the explorations of Middendorff, of Schrenck, and Radde have greatly increased our knowledge, while 

 the travels of Dr. Finsch on the river Ob added many interesting particulars respecting that region. 

 One of the most important expeditions, however, to this portion of northern Asia, was that undertaken 

 by our countryman Mr. Henry Seebohm, who in 1877 visited the valley of the Yen-e-say, discovered 

 the breeding-places of many birds (unknown up to that date), and brought back large collections of 

 animals from that little-known portion of the globe. His experiences and adventures are related in 

 his work ' Siberia in Asia,' one of the most entertaining books of travel which it has ever been our 

 lot to peruse. Central Asia remained for a long time a terra incognita to the naturalist; but about 

 the year 1872 Dr. Severtzoff commenced to publish the results of his journeys through Turkestan, 

 while at the same time the mission to Yarkand despatched by our government, under the leadership 

 of Sir Douglas Forsyth, was also successful from an ornithological point of view ; and the book ' Lahore 

 to Yarkand,' published by Mr. A. O. Hume and Dr. Henderson the naturalist to the expedition, is 

 full of interest to the ornithologist. South-western Asia, or at least that part of it embraced in 

 the Mediterraneo-Persic subregion of modern writers, still requires considerable exploration before we 

 can be considered to have a thorough knowledge of its ornithology. The birds of the Caucasus 

 have been treated of by Menetries ; and more recently Professor Bogdanoflf has published a work on 

 the species inhabiting this region, which, however, from being written in Russian, will, like Dr. 

 SevertzofFs 'Fauna of Turkestan,' be unintelligible to the great majority of readers. Filippi's 

 'Viaggio in Persia' also contains a useful list of the birds met with by him; but by far the most 

 important work on the zoology of Persia is that of Mr. W. T. Blanford, who has given a verv 

 complete account of the birds obtained by him during his travels from Baluchistan through Persia to 







