546 



ORNITHOLOGY. 



History, ceding century, and was himself followed by Ruysch, 

 N — "~v"~- / whose Theatrum Universale Animalium Omnium may be 

 regarded as a second edition of Johnston's work. The 

 Natural and Medical History of (he East Indies, by Bon- 

 tius, appeared in 1658, and contained descriptions of va- 

 rious birds at that time new. Soon afterwards Perrault, 

 Borrichius, and Bartolinus, began to furnish the earliest 

 modern contributions to the anatomy of the feathered 

 race. 



Willughby's Ornithologia (a posthumous work, believ- 

 ed to have been greatly amended and increased by Ray) 

 was published in 1676. The first edition is in Latin, but 

 an English translation, enlarged, made its appearance two 

 years after. Ray's own Synopsis Methodica Avium (et 

 Piscium) was likewise published posthumously, under the 

 care of Dr Derham, in 1713. The writings of these au- 

 thors are remarkable, as manifesting an approach to a 

 more natural system of arrangement than had hitherto 

 prevailed ; but as they have been so frequently analysed, 

 we deem it unnecessary to occupy our space with any de- 

 tailed exposition of their views. Baron Cuvier has term- 

 ed Ray " le premier veritable methodiste pour le regne 

 animal, guide principal de Linnaeus dans cette partie." 

 In Sir Hans Sloane's Voyage to Jamaica, &c. (1707-25), 

 we have notices of various birds, accompanied by rather 

 poor engravings ; but the work was of great use to science 

 in England, by the attention and emulation which it ex- 

 cited in regard to natural objects, of which the author had 

 brought together upwards of 36,000, besides 200 volumes 

 of preserved plants. His collections formed the original 

 basis of the British Museum. A showy but inaccurate 

 work by Marsilli (1726) is devoted to an interesting sub- 

 ject, the birds of the banks of the Danube. Albin's Na- 

 tural History of Birds, in 3 vols. 4to (1731-38), contains 

 above three hundred coloured figures of no great merit. 

 Yet it was afterwards reprinted in French, with additions, 

 at the Hague. About the same period was published 

 Catesby's Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the 

 Bahama Islands, in 2 vols, folio, and appendix (1731-43), 

 with numerous coloured plates of birds and other beings. 

 Frisch's excellent work on German birds ( Vorstellung der 

 Vogel Deutschlands) was commenced at Berlin in 1734, 

 and was not completed when the author died. It was 

 continued by a stranger, and a collected edition of the 

 whole work, with two hundred and fifty-five plates, was 

 published in 1763. Although by no means highly finish- 

 ed, these engravings are accurate, and exhibit a good deal 

 of the truth of nature. The arrangement is defective, 

 and retrogrades from that of Ray. Seba's great, or rather 

 large work, the Locupletissimi rerum naluralium Thesauri 

 accurata descriptio, was being carried on during this period 

 .at Amsterdam, in four volumes folio (1734-65). It is un- 

 worthy of being quoted, except in reference to the plates. 

 By this time the illustrious reformer of systematic na- 

 tural history had made his appearance as an author ; the 

 first edition of the Systema Natures, consisting of only 

 fourteen pages folio, having been published at Leyden in 

 1735, when Linnaeus was not more than eighteen years of 

 age. It ran through twelve editions in little more than 

 thirty years; the twelfth impression, the last which the 

 author could himself revise, appearing at Stockholm in 

 1766-68. The influence exercised by the writings of the 

 great Swedish naturalist is too important to admit of our 

 proceeding farther without exhibiting a view of his clas- 

 sification, so far at least as concerns the feathered race. 

 The following table presents an outline of the Linnaean 

 arrangement of birds, which he divides into six primary 

 groups called orders. 



a tooth-like process near the tip ; the feet short, robust, History, 

 with acute hooked claws. 



Genus Vultur. Vultures. Beak hooked ; head bare : eight 

 species. 



Falco. Eagles and hawks. Beak hooked ; head fea- 

 thered : thirty-two species. 



Strix. Owls. Beak hooked, feathers at its base di- 

 rected forwards : twelve species. 



Lanius. Shrikes. Beak straightish, notched : twenty- 

 six species. 



Order II. Picje. The bill cultriform, with the back 

 convex ; the feet short, rather strong. 



Genus Psittacus. Parrots. Beak hooked ; upper mandible 

 furnished with a cere : forty-seven species. 



Rhamphastos. Toucans. Beak very large, hollow, con- 

 vex, serrated ; both mandibles incurved at the tip : 

 eight species. 



Buceros. Hornbills. Beak convex, curved, cultrate, 

 large, serrated ; forehead covered by a horny plate : 

 four species. 



Buphaga. Beef-eaters. Beak straight, somewhat quad- 

 rangular ; the mandibles bulging : one species. 



Crotophaga. Plantain-eaters. Beak compressed, half 

 egg-shaped, arched, keeled on the back : two species. 



Coi-vus. Crows. Beak convex, cultrate ; nostrils co- 

 vered by recumbent bristly feathers : nineteen'species- 



Coracias. Rollers. Beak conical, convex, straight, 

 acute ; upper mandible slightly longer, and indistinct- 

 ly notched : twenty species. 



Gracula. Grakles. Beak cultrate, convex, somewhat 

 bare at the base : eight species. 



Paradisea. Birds of Paradise. Beak covered with the 

 downy feathers of the forehead ; feathers of the sides 

 long : three'species. 



Trogon. Curucuis. Beak shorter than the head, cul- 

 trate, hooked, serrated : three species. 



Bucco. Barbets. Beak cultrate, laterally compress- 

 ed, notched at the tip, incurved, opening to beneath 

 the eyes : one species. 



Cuculus. Cuckoos. Beak roundish ; nostrils with a 

 prominent margin : twenty-two species. 



Yunx. Wrynecks. Beak roundish, sharp pointed ; 

 nostrils concave : one species. 



Picus. Woodpeckers. Beak angular, straight, the 

 tip wedge-shaped ; the nostrils covered with recum- 

 bent bristly feathers : twenty-one species. 



Sitta. Nut-hatches. Beak awl-shaped, roundish, 

 straight : three species. 



Todus. Todus. Beak awl-shaped, a little flattened, 

 obtuse, straight, with spreading bristles at the base : 

 two species. 



Alcedo. King-fishers. Beak three-cornered, thick, 

 straight, long : fifteen species. 



Merops. Bee-eater. Beak curved, compressed, keel- 

 ed : seven species. 



Upupa. Hoopoes. Beak arcuate, convex, a little com- 

 pressed, rather obtuse : three species. 



Cerlhia. Creepers. Beak arcuate, slender, acute : 

 twenty-five species. 



Trochilus. Humming-birds. Beak slender, longer than 

 the head, its tip tubular : twenty-two species. 



Order III. Anseres. Web-footed water-fowl. Bill 

 smooth, covered with epidermis, enlarged at the tip ; the 

 toes united by a web, the legs compressed and short. 



Order I. Accipitres, or birds of prey. The bill more Genus Anas. Swans, geese, ducks. Beak lamellated at 

 oi- less curved, the upper mandible dilated, or armed with the margin, convex, obtuse: forty-five species. 



