552 



History 



ORNITHOLOGY. 



lyse du Systime Generate a" ' Omithologie, a classification of 

 ' birds in general. Instead of a third edition of his Manuel, 

 the author has recently published (in 1835) a third part, 

 as a supplement to the first volume, and he is now about 

 to give out a fourth part, or supplement to the second vo- 

 lume. These parts contain the corrections and additions 

 rendered necessary by the lapse of many years. But M. 

 Temminck has not confined his attention to the birds of 

 Europe. In 1820 be commenced (in conjunction with M. 

 Meiffren de Laugier) his Planches Coloriees, a work in- 

 tended as a continuation and completion of the well-known 

 Planches Enluminees of BufFon. It is printed in both a 

 quarto and a folio form, now amounts to above ninety 

 parts, and will be concluded (so far, at least, as the first 

 great series is concerned) on the publication of the hun- 

 dredth number. It will then form five volumes, composed 

 in all of five hundred and ninety-five plates, exhibiting 

 seven hundred and fifty-five figures of birds, the majority 

 unknown to prior writers. Each plate is accompanied by 

 corresponding letter-press, containing the generic charac- 

 ters, the description of the species figured, and in many 

 instances by general observations on the distribution and 

 construction of groups. The two concluding numbers are 

 to contain a general index, as well as the tables and titles 

 of the volumes. On the completion of this " century," we 

 trust M. Temminck will be encouraged to proceed to ano- 

 ther series, as we know his materials are abundant, if not 

 inexhaustible. It would in truth be desirable that some 

 such established work should be generally regarded as a 

 proper medium for the publication of new or rare subjects 

 in Ornithology, for it is the bane of natural history in ge- 

 neral, that every year should be distinguished by the ap- 

 pearance of numerous abortive attempts, which each suc- 

 ceeding season condemns to oblivion. Thus tbe tax be- 

 comes both heavy and unproductive, yet we fear that na- 

 tional pride and personal vanity will long prevent the in- 

 troduction of a better system. We do not mean to say 

 that we possess not among ourselves individuals compe- 

 tent to do the subject justice, but assuredly there is much 

 labour lost by a want of concentration. 



In connection with the labours of the last-named author, 

 we may here mention M. Werner's lithographic work, en- 

 titled Atlas des Oiseaux d'Europe, pour servir de comple- 

 ment au Manuel d 'Omithologie de 31. Temminck, of which 

 thirty-two livraisons have now appeared. M. Temminck had 

 figured a few European novelties in his Planches Coloriees, 

 but he appears to have remitted most of his rare indigenous 

 kinds to M. Werner ; and we are happy to find he is now in 

 immediate communication, so far as the publication of his 

 European species is concerned, with our zealous and intel- 

 ligent countryman Mr Gould. This leads us to record the 

 title of one of the most sumptuous and beautifully execut- 

 ed works within the whole range of ornithological illustra- 

 tion, viz. The Birds of Europe, by John Gould, F.L.S. 

 now completed in five volumes royal folio. The plates are 

 chiefly from lithograph drawings by Mrs Gould, but many 

 are also by Mr Lear, one of the best ornithological drafts- 

 men the world has yet seen. Mr Gould's other works, all 

 of recent date, and of the same form and character as the 

 preceding, are as follow: — a Century of Birds, from the 



Himalaya Mountains ; — a Monograph of the Toucans ; — 

 a Monograph of the Trogons ; — and, a Synopsis of the 

 Birds of Australia. The latter is in a more portable form 

 than the others; but it is the author's intention to illus- 

 trate the Ornithology of New Holland in the same mode 

 as that in which he has treated the birds of Europe. 



To M. Lesson the Ornithologist stands indebted for se- 

 veral publications, both of a sumptuous and useful charac- 

 ter. The last edition of his work on humming-birds bears 

 the following title : Les Trochilides, ou les colibris et les 

 oiseaux mouches, suivi dun index general, dans lequel 

 sont decrites et classees methodiquement toutes les races et 

 especes du genre Trochilus, Paris, 1832, with seventy co- 

 loured plates. Conjointly with M. Garnot, he has pub- 

 lished some figures of birds in the Zoological Atlas toDu- 

 perrey's Voyage aulour du Monde, as well as in his own 

 Centurie de Zoologie. His other works specially devoted 

 to our present subject are, — Manuel d' Omithologie, two 

 volumes 18mo, 1829 ; Traite d' Omithologie, two volumes 

 8vo (with 119 plates), 1831 ; and Hisloire Naturelle des 

 Oiseaux de Paradis, des Sericules, et des Epimaques, one 

 volume 8vo (with 41 coloured plates), 1835. 



Mr Swainson's beautiful Zoological Illustrations (First Se- 

 ries 3 vols. 8vo, 1820-23, Second Series 3 vols. 8vo, 1832-3) 

 contain representations of many rare and remarkable birds, 

 and yield to none with which we are acquainted, either in 

 elegance or accuracy. By the same author (conjointly 

 with Dr Richardson) we have, as already noted, the Fau- 

 na. Boreali- Americana, Part Second ; and (without other 

 aid than his own delightful pencil) several fasciculi of the 

 Birds of Brazil. More recently Mr Sv/air.so.n has en- 

 tered into a minute as well as extended exposition of the 

 Natural History and Classification of Birds, in two vo- 

 lumes (1836-7), which form the ornithological portion of 

 Dr Lardner's Cyclopaedia. These will amply repay the 

 most attentive study. 



The birds of South America, which, like all the pro- 

 ductions of that splendid country, are extremely gorgeous, 

 have been here and there illustrated in various works, 

 and are partially so by Mr Swainson in one of those just 

 named. In Azara's Voyages dans I'Amerique Meiidion- 

 ale (1809, 3d and 4th volumes) there are descriptions of 

 many hundred species from Paraguay and La Plata. The 

 ornithological portion of the French edition was translat- 

 ed, with notes, by Sonnini. 1 A great mass of Brazilian 

 species is described and figured in Spix's Avium Species 

 Nova, &c. 2 vols. 4to, 1824-26 ; while the habits of se- 

 veral of the more curious birds of Demerara are record- 

 ed in Mr Waterton's eccentric and well-known Wan- 

 derings. 



The Ornithology of North America has been illustrat- 

 ed in an extremely full and satisfactory manner. Indeed, 

 of the feathered tribes of no country out of Europe, equal 

 in extent, do we possess so ample and accurate a know- 

 ledge as we do of those of the United States. We have 

 already mentioned the immortal work of Alexander Wil- 

 son, and its excellent continuation by Charles Lucien Bo- 

 naparte ; but at present we have to record the title of a 

 much more magnificent publication than either, we mean 

 The Birds of America, engraved from Drawings made in 



Historr. 



1 The truly important works of Don Felix Azara seem better known to European readers by the French translations than the 

 original Spanish publications. He devoted all his leisure hours, whilst in South America, to the pursuits of natural history, from the 

 year 1782 to 1801. He then transmitted the manuscript of his Apuntamientos para la Historia Natural de los Quadrupedos del Paraguay 

 to his brother, Don Josef Nicolas, who handed it over to a French professor, M. Moreau de Saint Mery, by whom it was translated, 

 and published under the now well-known title of Essai sur I'Histoire Naturelle des Quadruples du Paraguay, 2 vols. 8vo, Paris, 1801. 

 The original, however, appeared at Madrid in the following year, with corrections and additions by the author. In 1802 he likewise 

 published his ornithological work under the title of Apuntamientos para la Historia Natural de los Pajaros del Paraguay y Buenos Ayrcs ; 

 and this portion of his labours forms the two concluding volumes of the French translation, entitled Voyages dans I'Amerique Miri- 

 dionale de 1781 jusqu'en 1801, 4 vols. 8vo, Paris, 1809. We are glad to understand that Mr W. Perceval Hunter proposes to publish 

 an English translation of both works, from the original Spanish, with notes. 



