EABLY ORNITHOLOGISTS. 383 



a great rarity ; then a nest of young Golden Orioles ; now a 

 Bohemian Waxwing ; and again a fine male of the Great Bustard. 

 The donation of the latter bird was a great joy to the old 

 naturalist. He induced his friend Auranti to dissect the bird, 

 and figured the gular pouch, " qua se in vastam capacitatem 

 insinuat," thus anticipating the labours of John Hunter and 

 other more recent anatomists. The truth is that Aldrovandi 

 often anticipated the so-called discoveries of his successors. 

 Gmelin takes the credit of having discovered the White-collared 

 Flycatcher in 1788, but it was figured and described by Aldro- 

 vandi. In the same way the elder Brehm enjoys the honour of 

 having discovered the Firecrest in 1820, though Di Valli figured 

 the species in 1601 ; while Olina not only figured it again in 

 1622, but described it — " sopra I'occhio ha una machietta 

 biancha." Aldrovandi figured the black-chinned variety of the 

 Brambling, though it was described as novel by the late Mr. 

 Dawson Bowley. There are many things we might learn from 

 the naturalists of the Renaissance. Read the account which 

 Aldrovandi gives of his visiting a colony of Egrets and other 

 aquatic birds in the Italian marshes, and then compare it with 

 the late Mr. Seebohm's description of the same birds nesting on 

 the Danube. The two accounts are identical in purpose, and not 

 very dissimilar in style. Aldrovandi was the only one of the 

 four great naturalists of his century who lived to a great age. 

 Belon was cut off at forty-five, Gesner died at forty-eight, Turner 

 had apparently reached sixty-one when he ceased from ' The 

 Huntynge of the Romishe Wolfe.' Aldrovandi long survived all 

 his rivals, and finally passed away in his eighty-fifth year, poor 

 in substance, but rich in the esteem of his fellow-countrymen, who 

 gave his mortal remains a magnificent public funeral. He had 

 spent all his money in the preparation of his great works, and 

 had been compelled to accept the favours of opulent patrons ; but 

 he had performed a noble service to zoology. His name will 

 never be erased from the list of those who helped to feed the 

 flame of scientific research during the stormy and eventful years 

 which followed the birth of the New Learning in Europe, 



