August i, 1 891] 



THE HUMMING BIRD, 



61 



The cases on the right hand side of the gallery 

 are occupied by the birds allied to the common 

 Fowl, known as Gallinacse, Perdicidas, Colum- 

 bidse, etc., and by the wading and swimming 

 birds ; among them some rare species of Pheasants, 

 Crossoptilon thibetanum, and mantchuricum, Lobio- 

 phasis bulweri, a very fine male, presented by His 

 Excell. F. F. Usher, Governor of Labuan, Meleagris 

 gallo pavo, fera, and ocellata, Leiopoa ocellata (2), 

 Notiornis mantelli, Balseniceps rex (2), Chauna 

 chavaria, Bustards, Flamingoes with their nest, the 

 Emperor Pingouin, a very rare bird, and lastly the 

 second specimen of the Great Auk. 



In the middle of the gallery, opposite the cases 

 containing the collection of Pheasants, is one con- 

 taining two magnificent specimens of the very rare 

 Pheasant discovered a few years ago by Captain 

 Reinhardt, Governor of Tonkin. The female 

 exhibited is the only known specimen of this 

 extraordinary bird. . 



Many other cases placed in this gallery and in 

 the spaces between the wall-cases contain isolated 

 groups of particular interest, among which are those 

 showing the nesting habits of the best known British 

 birds. The great interest of these groups consists 

 in their absolute truthfulness. When it has been 

 possible, the actual rocks, trees or grass have been 

 preserved, and when these were of a perishable 

 nature they were accurately modelled from nature. 

 The stuffing of the birds is very good, quite artistic 

 and natural, and can serve as example to all 

 Museums. 



On the whole, the collection of Birds is very fine, 

 and it is a pity that the Guide of the Bird Gallery 

 is not printed yet. It is to be hoped that the 

 the authorities of the British Museum will give special 

 instructions for its speedy publication. 



To be continued. 



Inauguration of the Statue of Pierre Belon, 

 the Naturalist. 



At Cerans-Foulletourte, near Mans, Sarthe (France), 

 on the 14th June last, was inaugured the statue of the 

 Naturalist Pierre Belon, born in that small town 

 in 1517. 



Pierre Belon is the author of l'Histoire de la 

 Nature des Oiseaux, in seven volumes. 



The first treats of the anatomy and physiology of 

 birds, the second of the Birds of prey, the third of the 

 Swimming birds, the fourth of the Snipes and allied 

 species, the fifth of the Gallinacae, the sixth of the 

 Crows and allied species, and the last of the Songsters. 



One of the chapters of the first volume is remark- 

 able, that of the Osteology of Birds compared to that 

 of Man. 



Pierre Belon figures in opposition one to another, 

 one skeleton of Man to one of Bird, and shows how 

 the bones of both correspond exactly and so well, 

 that they can be designed in the two figures by the 

 same letters, as the angles of similar figures in 

 Geometry. He shows in detail the existing analogy 

 between] the wing of Bird, the arm of Man, and the 

 anterior limb of Mammal. 



Nearly the same bones are found in the wings of 

 Birds as in the arms of Men or legs of Mammals, 

 the hand being represented in birds by the six small 

 bones, osselets, which form the end of the wing. 



There is no doubt whatever that Pierre Belon, the 

 ancestor of Buffon, Linné, Lacépéde, Cuvier, Geoffroy 

 St. Hilaire, and many other celebrated Naturalists of 

 the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, was a man 

 of genius and is the father of the principles of 

 Classification in Ornithology, and I don't see why the 

 modern scientists ignore him completely. 



Pierre Belon at first studied Botany, then Medicine. 

 In 1540, he travelled in Germany and Bohemia in 

 company of the celebrated Professor Valerius Cordus. 

 After that, he visited successively Greece, Turkey, 

 Lemnos, Thrace, Macedony, Asia Minor, Chio, Samos, 

 Rhodes, Egypt, Palestine, and Syria. 



For that time, it was an extraordinary journey. 

 When back, he published his observations in a 

 remarkable work, which contains curious and interest - 

 ing accounts on geography, customs, flora and 

 fauna of all the countries visited by him. 



Later, when retired at Boulogne, near Paris, and 

 working at a traduction of Dioscoride and Theophraste, 

 he was murdered in 1564 in his forty-seventh year. 



What a reward for such a meritorious Scientist ! ! ! 



After a little over two centuries, the memory of 

 Pierre Belon has been at last duly honored, and in 

 1887, a statue of this illustrious man was inaugurated 

 on the place of the Prefecture at Mans, and now 

 another at Foulletourte, his native place. 



The bronze statue of Pierre Belon, which has just 

 been inaugurated, is the work of Miss Anaïs Loriot, 

 a native also of Foulletourte, who, without study, 

 and never away from Foulletourte, has produced 

 a work, that masters would not hesitate to sign. 



Pierre Belon is represented in a Henry III. costume, 

 cap, doublet and breeches. He has a fine beard 

 and looks more like a Nobleman than a Scientist. 



On the socket are engraved these words : 



A PIERRE BELON 



Médecin, Voyageur Naturaliste 



né en 15 17 au hameau de la soultiere 



cérans-foulletourte. 



