MS. “TIilustrations of Indian Ornithology.” 337 
to which I now propose to call attention. The original in- 
tention seems to have been to make his proposed work a 
complete history of Indian ornithology ; but illness and other 
circumstances prevented this laudable object from being at- 
tained ; consequently the Gallinacee, the Gralla, the Anseres, 
the Insessores, the Sylviitde, the Paride and kindred genera, 
and the Conirostres are wholly wanting*. 
The work consists of seven small folio volumes, the title- 
page of each being printed, while the whole of the letter-press 
is most neatly written by hand. The characters of the orders, 
families, and genera Colonel Tickell adopts are given in detail ; 
and each genus is illustrated by accurately drawn outlines 
. Showing, in most instances, the bill, feet, and wing-structure. 
These outlines are drawn with the very greatest care, and in 
each case to scale, and not by eye alone. Every species per- 
sonally known to the author is figured; and many of the 
plates are works of art. It may be affirmed that nearly all 
are good, and that many are almost perfection. While the 
ornithological characters of nearly every species are accurately 
rendered, the attitude of each bird discloses how well Colonel 
Tickell observed and how closely he studied nature. The 
attractiveness .of the plates is moreover much enhanced by 
the backgrounds in which the figures are set. A knowledge 
of the haunts and habits of each species can almost be ac- 
quired by studying the accessories of each figure. Every 
plate is a highly finished landscape, true to nature, often 
enlivened by scenes from every-day life in India, either 
in the plains or in the jungle, in town or in cantonments. 
After the monotonous uniformity of the conventional back- 
* While this paper was passing through the press I was favoured by 
General Boyd and the Rey. E. A. Tickell with an opportunity of ex- 
amining all the original drawings and notes in their possession from which 
Colonel Tickell elaborated the more complete work under notice. They are 
bound up in two folio and three quarto volumes, and comprise notices 
and coloured drawings of many more species than are to be found in the 
Zoological Society’s copy, many of them relating to birds belonging to 
the orders and families there omitted. I have not had time to thoroughly 
examine these volumes; but a cursory inspection has satisfied me that an 
account of their contents may be of use and interest to ornithologists. 













