﻿254 ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS. 



make the experiment: teaching these ingenious collectors 

 the art of taking off the skin, so as the bird itself may 

 be eaten, would probably tend to further this object, 

 seeing that the most splendid birds of China are the large 

 pheasants and other rasorial species. Persia, again, 

 offers an interesting, if not a very rich, country for the 

 ornithological traveller, where his researches may be 

 prosecuted without those dangers and impediments at- 

 tending the investigation among hostile tribes. It is, we 

 believe, through the instrumentality of Mr. Hodson, 

 our accomplished scientific resident at the court of 

 Nepal, that we have at length become acquainted with 

 the productions of that most interesting portion of 

 India, particularly its birds, which have been made the 

 subject of a distinct publication.* General Hardwicke 

 has done much to elucidate those of Hindostan; but his 

 materials have only partially been published, and, from 

 neglecting to bring home specimens of all the birds 

 themselves, his drawings, now deposited in the British 

 Museum, will not, in many cases, point out the natural 

 genera to which they belong. Some other collections 

 have been recently brought home, particularly by 

 Colonel Sykes, who has added much to our list of 

 authentic species by his excellent descriptions ; those 

 we saw collected by captain Smee were also numerous, 

 but nothing, we believe, has yet been done to render 

 them available to science. The farther we advance 

 southward, the more interesting and beautiful are the 

 ornithological forms. Sir Stamford Raffles, doctor 

 Horsfield, and professor Reinwald, have all contributed, 

 more or less, to enrich our museums with specimens, 

 and our lists with descriptions of the birds of Sumatra 

 and of Java; nor must we omit to do justice to the 

 two French collectors, MM. Diard and Duvosel, who 

 were patronised by Sir Stamford Raffles, and through 

 whose liberality they were chiefly enabled to send so 

 many objects to the Paris museum. Still, however, 

 there is ample room for future discoveries, even in these 



* Birds of the Himalaya Mountains. By J. Gould, A.L.S. 



