224 ON THE CLASSIFICATION OP BIRDS. 
than one of the figures are made up from description alone ; 
there are, nevertheless, many rare species represented, particu- 
larly of the tropical genera Amadirm and Estrelda Sw.; but 
there are very many birds of Europe and North America in- 
troduced, in order, apparently to make up the volume. It 
is a pretty s/tmc-book, and may bt; consulted occasionally, 
with great advantage. 
Vieillot. Ilistoire Naturelle des Oiseaux de 1’ Amerique Sep- 
tentrionale, contenant un grand noinbre d’Especes decrites 
pour la premiere fois. Par. E. P. Vieillot. 
The author describes many of these birds from personal ob- 
servation in their native country; but he has likewise intro- 
duced those which he has not seen, upon the authority of 
Pennant and Latham. The work is useful as a book of re- 
ference, but can neither rank in merit with that of Wilson, 
or in execution with those of Le Vaillant. 
Audibert and Vieillot. Histoire Naturelle et Gdnerale des 
Oiseaux Bords. 2 vol. folio. Paris, 1802. 
Tliere are two impressions of this work, one in folio, the 
other in quarto; in the first of which, the names upon the 
plates (180 in number) are printed in gold. The figures 
are accurate, without being well dr.awn ; they represent the 
Hummingbirds, Jacamars, Promerops, Creep'ers, Sun birds, 
and Paradise birds. 
Le Vaillant. Histoire Naturelle des Perroquets. Par Fran- 
cois Le Vaillant. Paris, 1801-1805. 2 vol. royal folio (or 
quarto). 
W ith the exception of a few of the plates at tlie commence- 
ment of the first volume, the whole are executed from 
drawings by the celebrated Barrabaud, the first artist who 
ventured to represent the varied attitudes of birds, at the 
same time preserving all that accuracy of detail so essential 
to their scientific characters. No painter of the present day 
can surpass, or perhaps equal, many of the exquisite designs 
contained in this and the subsequent volumes, enriched by 
the same pencil. The letter-press, although not scientific, is 
full of accurate detail and of valuable information. The 
number of plates are 139, printed in colours, and finished by 
the hand ; in many of the copies, however, the tints arc too 
rich, and “overstep the modesty of nature. ’ The quarto edi- 
tion is precisely similar to the folio, except in the site of the 
paper. 
Le Vaillant. Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux de Paradis. 
1 vol. folio. 
E(|ually splendid with the preceding. The size' and 
extraordinary plumage of the Paradise birds requires a 
scale fully equal to the dimensions of this volume, which 
