18 ornithologist's text-book. 



of ours informs us, that many years ago he remem- 

 bers to have seen a Blue Tit (P. coeruleus) with 

 the mandibles of the bill similarly crossed. This 

 specimen was caught in a trap. We have also seen 

 a Common Fowl with a crossed bill ; it had some 

 difficulty in taking its food, and always remained 

 thin. — It would be good practice for the student 

 if he were to mark the plates in this work, where 

 varieties or sexes are multiplied into species, by 

 a reference to Selby's Illustrations of British Orni- 

 thology ', plates and letterpress. He would then find 

 the work of use in his researches, as it is by no 

 means convenient to use Selby's plates for common 

 reference. 



Transactions of the Linnaean Society. Many 

 4to. vols. 



The Linn&an Transactions, as they are usually 

 termed, may here be mentioned, as containing many 

 excellent scientific papers on Ornithology. The 

 two most important ornithological Essays in the 

 whole series are, 1st, " On the Trachea of Birds,' 1 

 by Dr. Latham ; 2d, " On the Affinities which 

 connect the Orders and Families of Birds" byN. 

 A. Vigors, Esq. The latter may be considered an 

 explanation of the Quinary System, discovered by 

 Macleay in 1818. This system is undoubtedly the 

 most natural which has yet been propounded, and 

 is admirably elucidated by Vigors in the above- 

 mentioned paper. The Linncean Transactions also 

 contain several highly interesting and valuable 

 papers by Montagu, on the habits and plumage of 

 birds. 



History of British Birds, by Thomas Bewick. 

 1797. 2 vols. 8vo. Newcastle on Tyne. 



