ornithologist's text-book. 77 



understood, will be published occasionally ; form- 

 ing, by the time of the completion of the figures, 

 two volumes large 8vo., which will not exceed 

 £2." 



Unhappily, however, these volumes of letter- 

 press never appeared. For our part, we think it 

 would have been more to the advancement of Or- 

 nithology, had our author published a work of a 

 smaller size. The plates would have been far more 

 convenient for reference, if they had been quarto 

 or octavo ; and would, besides, have been accessi- 

 ble to almost every one. Such a work would in- 

 deed have advanced the science. — The author of 

 the Birds of Europe informs us that the plates are 

 broken as soon as the impressions are taken off, on 

 account of the enormous expense of preserving 

 them. We understand also — from. Mr. Swainson 

 himself — that the same is done with the Ornitho- 

 logical Drawings. 



Birds of America, by John James Audubon. 

 Elephant folio. 1828. 



Ornithological Biography, by J. J. Audubon, 

 F.R.S. 2 vols, large 8vo. 1831—4. £2. 10s. 



We must confess that we were not a little disap- 

 pointed the first time we saw Audubon's plates. We 

 had heard so much of them, from all quarters, that 

 we naturally expected them to be far superior to 

 those of Swainson, Selby, and others, whose draw- 

 ings we had always considered — and still do consi- 

 der — little short of perfection ; although the plates 

 of Selby are not sufficiently even in their merits, and 

 those of Swainson are perhaps not engraved in so 

 masterly a style as the Birds of America. We 

 think that Audubon's plates are of a needless size, 

 and that the birds are almost overwhelmed, in 

 g 3 



