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INTRODUCTION. 
Illustrations of British Ornithology, by P. J. 
Selby, were commenced in 1826, and concluded 
in 1833, a folio of two volumes, with octavo 
descriptive letter-press. The price and magni- 
tude of the plates preclude this work from the 
libraries of most students; but the descriptive 
part is indispensable, is moderate in price, and 
contains ample yet condensed descriptions of 
all our birds, arranged under the natural sys- 
tem, and placed in the modern genera where 
such have been considered necessary. The 
illustrations, amounting to above one hundred, are 
imbued with the character of the living birds, and 
without harshness, are executed boldly by the 
hands of the author himself. None but the pro- 
fessed workman can have any idea of the labour 
comprised in these two volumes of illustrations ; 
and when it is considered that the drawings and 
engravings of three hundred and twenty-seven 
species of our British birds have been made and 
finished of the size of life, with very few excep- 
tions by one individual, this work will stand alone 
as a monument of perseverance, while it is equally 
honourable as a work of science and of art. 
In this enumeration of the works devoted to 
our favourite science, we have only noticed those 
which were confined to the subject. There are 
several works not exclusively treating of the 
department, which may be consulted with profit-- 
