4 THE HISTORY OF ORNITHOLOGY 



them, the Oscixes, have a kind of singing, chirping, or the 

 like, the latter, such as Eagles, a magnitude hath given a dif- 

 ference to these. And so they proceed according to order." 

 Pierre Belon, 1551-53, who may really be called the founder 

 of Ichthyology, gives us our first really reliable information 

 regarding the habits and lives of Birds, — yet his attempts at 

 a classification would simply amuse us now, as for instance : 

 " the rapacious birds form the first division, the waders the 

 second, the swimmers the third, and the birds which nestle in 

 trees or on the ground the fourth." This last division does 

 not seem so absurd when we recollect the ancient belief that 

 water birds built nests which swam upon the water wherein 

 they laid their eggs and reared their young ; also, that as late 

 as 1633 the common goose-necked Barnacle was supposed to 

 bear within it the young of the "Wild Goose. For all this, 

 Belox was a careful student of bird anatomy. Many of the 

 later naturalists regard his works with favor, and even the 

 eminent Buffox quoted him frequently. About the same time 

 with Belox, though a little later, appeared Conrad Gesner, 

 1585, whose work was hardly more than a compilation from 

 the works of all of his predecessors, yet he was highly es- 

 teemed in his day and by many even now for this very reason. 

 Next appeared Ulysses Aldrovandi or Aldrovandus, 1599- 

 1640. He is more frequently called by the latter name. He 

 was said by many to be the greatest naturalist of his times. 

 Three volumes of a work on Ornithology, with the classifica- 

 tion of Belox, and many uew descriptions, treat of the sub- 

 ject in a very interesting manner. He was a great traveler, 

 and appears, to some extent, in nearly all of the sciences ; but 

 no real advancement in our knowledge of Ornithology seems 

 to have been made until Francis Willoughby, 1678, and af- 

 ter him John Ray, 1710, appeared, and gave scientific form 

 and accuracy to the hitherto scattered thoughts upon this great 

 theme. Buth were Englishmen ; both companions and trav- 

 elers. Willoughby conceived the idea of a general work 

 upon all known animals and plants. He labored hard, and, 



