﻿HINTS TO ORNITHOLOGICAL COLLECTORS. 249 



of the most common birds of Brazil are those which are 

 most seldom sent to Europe, and the same remark is 

 probably applicable to the ornithology of other regions. 

 The collector would do well to remember this, and com- 

 mence at once upon the ordinary birds that abound in 

 the vicinity of his dwelling. 



(210.) Neither are species to be passed over, because,, 

 in general aspect, they bear a resemblance either to those 

 of Europe, or to others which have been previously 

 collected. In regard to the first, the supposed identity 

 is generally groundless, when the two specimens are 

 placed together and compared. Not five land birds of 

 temperate America are of the same species as those of 

 Europe: and yet the wren, the gold crest, and the swal- 

 low of both countries are so nearly alike, that their dif- 

 ference can only be detected upon close comparison. It 

 may be considered, therefore, as a rule admitting of but 

 very few exceptions, that the land birds of one continent 

 are specifically distinct from those of another, except, 

 indeed, when the two regions join. Many of the birds, 

 for instance, of Asia Minor and Turkey in Europe are 

 the same. Yet, even in such cases, the collector should 

 secure specimens; for, besides the interest attaching to 

 examples of the same species from different localities, the 

 geographic branch of the science is much improved, and 

 our knowledge extended by a better acquaintance with 

 the physical distribution of the different races. The 

 redbreast of Britain is not found in India ; and yet in 

 that country there is a bird of a different genus, so 

 exactly resembling ours that the difference is entirely 

 confined to the shape of the bill, and cannot therefore 

 be detected, unless by a very close comparison. Let us 

 warn the collector, also, against another delusion of this 

 sort, which, without experience, he could not anticipate; 

 it is that of not killing or preserving a bird because it 

 seems a slight variety, or perhaps even of the same spe- 

 cies, as one that he has already. He will be chiefly in- 

 fluenced in this by colour and general appearance ; for 

 it is seldom that a travelling ornithologist can have im- 



