ORNITHOLOGY. 
M. le ier gee author of A Voyage to the Cape, and of 
the « Natural Hiftory of Birds of Africa,’’ is eminently 
diftinguifhed by the ardour and acutenefs with which he has 
profecuted his ornithological refearches, and has availed 
himfelf with laudable diligence of his opportunities of col- 
le€ting accurate details relative to the feveral fpecies which 
he undertakes to illuftrate. His « Natural Hiktory of the 
Birds of Paiadife, Rollers, Toucans, and Barbets,”’ i 
oned the moft fplendid publication that has appeared in any 
of the ee of ornithology. is work is thus de- 
{cribed ; are engraved 
; and in many cafes, an exact repre- 
fentation of the female bird has alfo been obtained. Though 
the pre-eminent merit of the work confifts in the figures and 
defcriptions, it is in a few ny See agreeably diverfified by 
traits of chara€ter which the author remarked i 
him to colle&.” 
M. Anfeline Gaétan Defmareft has given a natural 
hiftory of the genera Tanagra, and Pipra of the Pafferine 
order: and of the genus Paes in Se order Pice, with 
coloured plates, from dra ulina de Courcelies, 
perfons concerned in fo ndid a wor paper, type, 
and figures, all befpeak the admiration of the reader. T 
author, Defmareft, fays that they have limited theirdefcrip- o 
ro 
they have feen, a m which they 
enabled to exhibit figures. Befides defcriptions 
and aie o the male, ufually the moft beautiful bird, the 
authors have not unfrequently reprefented the female, or 
young of the aia {pecies, or an individual as it appears in 
the moulting ftat 
The natural iidoey of birds by Mr. George Edwards, in 
four volumes, 4to., which is without method, and without 
reference to particular countries, contains many excel- 
may be recommended for 
The fam 
“ 
c 
ae oun . xil. .° veral other writers of o 
own country have a eanes and Geis the birds of this 
ifland with various degrees of merit. The ornithological 
part of Pennant’s Britifh Zoology, n re- 
garded as a work of high authority; and fome others muft 
be barely mentioned before we conclude the hiflorical part 
of this article, fuch are Hayes’ «‘ Natural Hiftory of Briti 
Birds,”” with their Ie epee drawn and beautifully 
coloured fron nature ; «“ Natural Hiftory of Britifh 
Birds; ewin’s “« Birds of Great Britain,’’ with delinea- 
tions on their eggs, in three volumes, 4to.; alcott’s 
*“ Synopfis of Britith Birds,”’ in volumes, 4to.; a work 
on * Briti rnithology,’” a raves; Mr. White’s 
ry o ‘ae Bewick’s « Hiktory of 
riti ures engraved on wood, in two 
volumes royal o€iavo, 1805. ‘The divifion ée the laft men- 
ned author is into Britifh Land and Water Birds, to each 
of eh a volume is devoted. To thefe may be added the 
Ornithological DiGtionary, or Alphabetical Synopfis of 
oo Birds, by Mr. George Montagu, in two volumes, 
n this work a large portion of accurate and import- 
an information is brought within a very narrow compai{s. 
sae! oe the long and pliant neck, the exp 
the tapering | tail, the light and bony-feet, are all wifely cal- 
culated to affift and accelerate their motion eaciel the 
yielding air, Every part of their frame is formed fer light- 
nefs and buoyancy ; their bodies are covered with a foft oad 
delicate plumage, fo difpofed and arranged, as to protec 
them from the intenfe cold of the atmofphere through which 
they pafs; their wings are formed of the lighte‘t matenals, 
and yet the force with which they ftrike the air is fo great, 
as to impel their bodies forward with eae: rapidity, 
while the tail ferves the purpofe of a rudder o dire them 
ably from other animals in their external jada as they 
do alfo in their internal conformation; if they are deflitute 
of teeth, lips, external ears, and ferotum fo likewife they 
have no epiglottis, no diaphragm, nor urinary bladder. (See 
Birp and Featuer.) s the flender fubftance of feathers 
is apt to be difcompofed oy ar hh, illne 
or moifture of a atmofphere, 
y the ex 
pinay sei pa ma 
het the | hema: are eae 
catches hold of t 
art under cover, 
a ftock of this fluid as sailed birds that live in the open air. 
The fea’ hers of a hen are pervious to every fhower; but 
{wans, geefe, ducks, and “all {uch as live on the water, have 
their aie dreffed with oil from the ay of their 
leaving the fhell. Next to the feathers, fo Ha de to the 
very exiftence of birds, we naturally confider the other parts 
that have been reckoned defcriptive a the generic se cat 
of birds. e marks derived — e plumage are pe 
d aco as the beak, carun- 
eet, and in this principle he has been de- 
cles, n Is, and f 
fervedly followed by many other naturalitts. The bill in all 
irds confifts of two mandibles, the upper and th lower ; 
e upper ma 
pleafure, to affift in climbing. No birds haye teeth, but 
fome have ferrated mandibles, as the toucans and mergan 
bafe of the 
