FRANCIS WILLUGHBY. 
Ill 
to follow your advice, in adding to the ornitho- 
logy, an account of the ordering of birds for 
singing, also something of falconry, and besides, 
an epitome of the art of fowling. For this pur- 
pose, I sent for the books you minded me of 
about those subjects.” These discourses will, 
perhaps, seem to most readers of the present 
day, as “ german to the matter” of ornithology, 
as dissertations on cookery, tailoring, and dress- 
making, would be at the end of a system of 
anatomy or physiology. Having given Mr Ray’s 
account of the ornithology, and having distin- 
guished Mr Willughby’s share in its composition 
and merits, and also Mr ltay’s, it seems now 
advisable to state the nature of its contents, as 
determined by subsequent writers, and to exhibit 
Mr Willughby’s ornithological system as drawn 
out by one who is well qualified for such an under- 
taking. The portion, then, of the book which is 
really to be ascribed to Mr Willughby, “ consists 
chiefly of dissertations on the form and external 
structure of birds, and their organization or 
internal structure, generation, age, shape, bigness, 
colour, natural instincts, manners, &c. 
Then follow twenty-four queries, the answers 
to which, if founded on fact, and drawn up with 
judgment, would not fail to contribute greatly to 
the advancement of ornithology. 
The author then institutes his leading distinc- 
tions derived from the form of the bill and feet, 
and would doubtless have accomplished a com^ 
plete arrangement, had he uniformly adhered to 
