﻿208 ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS. 



third division of works belonging to this science. 

 These we shall arrange under the five zoological pro- 

 vinces of the world, as defined and illustrated in a 

 former volume*; as, I.Europe; 2. Asia; 3. Africa; 

 4. America ; 5. Australia. In proportion as our know- 

 ledge of natural groups is increased, we find them, 

 in very many instances, as much characterised by their 

 geographic distribution, as by their external forms. 

 Hence the locality of a genus is now become part of its 

 essential character, and saves the student infinite trouble 

 when investigating the birds of any particular country. 



(175.) In regard to European ornithology, it is need- 

 less to enumerate the very many works that have been 

 published, in one shape or other, on the birds of the dif- 

 ferent kingdoms. The most costly are those of Noze- 

 man on the birds of the Low Countries, in four folio 

 volumes; yet the figures, by Sepp, are poor and unnatural. 

 Wolf and Meyers' Almanack of German Birds, in two 

 octavo volumes, are valuable for many excellent observ- 

 ations, but we do not possess them. The substance, 

 however, of all these will be found in M. Temminck's 

 Manuel of the Ornithology of Europe ; while the excel- 

 lent coloured figures of Mr. Gould will supersede the 

 necessity of possessing any of the other expensive works 

 on the birds of Europe. Our object is not to give a 

 general catalogue, but to enumerate such works only as 

 are either absolutely essential to an ornithological student, 

 or are eminently beautiful in their execution, and there- 

 fore entitled to the first place in a well selected library of 

 natural history. In regard to the birds of our own 

 country, we consider the excellent Illustrations of British 

 Ornithology, by Mr. Selby, quite sufficient for all pur- 

 poses of accurate description or pictorial illustration. It 

 is not generally known, that the letter-press to this 

 otherwise costly work, forms two separate volumes in 

 octavo, the price of which renders them accessible to 



Geography and Classification of Animals. See also Murray's Ency- 

 clopaedia of Geography, where we have treated the natural distribution of 

 birds in more detail. 



