Xll INTRODUCTION. 



resulting from age or sex. Exclusive of these nominal species, Pen- 

 nant describes seventeen from the north-west coast and Behring's 

 Straits, collected on Captain Cook's Expedition, and eighty -three 

 from Hudson's Bay, of which seventy-three had been previously 

 made known by Edwards and Forster. Umfreville's " Account of 

 Hudson's Bay," and Hearne's " Journey to the Coppermine River," 

 published in 1795, give some interesting details of the habits of the 

 more common birds. 



There is no evidence in the Philosophical Transactions, of the orders 

 of the Hudson's Bay Company, in 1772, above alluded to, having been 

 beneficial to science through the channel of the Royal Society ; but 

 their instructions served to acquaint the residents with the value set, in 

 England, upon the natural productions of the northern regions ; and 

 collections, chiefly of birds, have continued to be transmitted annually 

 to Eondon up to the present time, as presents either to the Governor 

 and Committee or to the personal friends of the parties. The former, 

 besides forming a museum of the Hudson's Bay productions, which is 

 liberally open to the public, have presented numerous specimens to 

 the British Museum and Zoological Society. Private museums have 

 also been greatly enriched from these sources, among which that of 

 Joseph Sabine, Esq., is particularly deserving of notice. This gentle- 

 man has long studied the Ornithology of Hudson's Bay, and it is to 

 be regretted that he has hitherto laid before the public only a part of 

 the extensive information he has acquired on the subject. His 

 Appendix to the Narrative of Sir John Franklin's first Journey shows 

 how well he could have performed the task had he found leisure. He 

 has lately transferred his rich museum to the Andersonian Institution 

 of Glasgow. Mr. Eeadbeater's invaluable collection also contains an 

 extensive suite of birds from Hudson's Bay, some of which have been 

 recently figured in the American Ornithology of the Prince of Musig- 

 nano, and are among the most interesting novelties in that splendid 

 work. 



The voyages of Vancouver, Portlock, Meares, and LangsdorfF, to the 

 north-west coast, added little to Ornithology ; nor is there much cer- 



