ORNITHOLOGY; 
BY 
N. A. VIGORS, Esq., A. M., F. R.S., &c. 
Although a great portion of the Birds brought home by Captain Beechey 
are of considerable interest, as being either entirely new to science, or species 
that have hitherto been rarely found in European museums, still, from the 
nature of the expedition, the general observations that result from the collec- 
tion are not of such importance as under other circumstances might have been 
expected from the zeal and science of the commander and his officers. The 
expedition touched at various points, without making a lengthened stay at 
any ; and the collection consequently consists of a variety of species met with 
at detached and distant localities, rather than of an extensive series which 
might serve to illustrate the zoology of a particular spot. Under these cir- 
cumstances, the same comprehensive deductions as to the geographical distri- 
bution of animal life, which affords the chief interest of foreign collections, 
cannot be made from the present collection, as would have been the case if 
the researches of the collectors had been more concentrated. 
