Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 18.djvu/26

 16 ORNITHOLOGY very great, but was chiefly confined to Britain, for (as has boon already stated) the extraordinary views of its adherents found little favour on the continent of Europe. The purely artificial character of the System of Linmeus and his successors had been perceived, and men were at a loss to find a substitute for it. The new doctrine, loudly proclaiming the discovery of a &quot; Natural &quot; System, led away many from the steady practice which should have followed the teaching of Cuvier (though he in Ornithology had not been able to act up to the principles he had lain down) and from the extended study of Comparative Anatomy. Moreover, it veiled the honest attempts that were making both in France and Germany to find real grounds for establishing an improved state of things, and con sequently the labours of DK BLAIXVILLK, &HENNE, GEOFFIHY ST- HILAIRE, and L HEiiMiNiEu, of MKUUEM, JOHANNES MULLEK, i and NrrzsfH to say nothing of others were almost wholly un known on this side of the Channel, and even the value of the investigations of British ornithotomists of high merit, such as I MACARTNEY and MACGILLIVKAY, was almost completely over looked. True it is that there were not wanting other men in these islands whose common sense refused to accept the metaphorical doctrine and the mystical jargon of the Quinarians, but so strenu ously and persistently had the latter asserted their infallibility, and so vigorously had they assailed any who ventured to doubt it, that most peaceable ornithologists found it be&amp;gt;t to bend to the furious blast, and in some sort to acquiesce at least in the phraseology of the self-styled interpreters of Creative Will. But, while thus lamenting this unfortunate perversion into a mistaken channel of ornithological energy, we must not over-blame those who caused it. Macleay indued never pretended to a high position in this branch of science, his tastes lying in the direction of Entomology; but few j of their countrymen knew more of Birds than did Swainson in id Vigors; and, while the latter, as editor for many years of the Zoological Journal, and the first Secretary of the Zoological Society, has especial claims to the regard of all zoologists, so the former s indefatigable pursuit of Natural History, and conscientious labour in its behalf among other ways by means of his graceful pencil deserve to be remembered as a set-off against the injury he unwit tingly caused. Faunae. It is now incumbent upon us to take a rapid survey of the ornithological works which come more or less under the designation of &quot; Faunae &quot;; l but these are so numerous that it will be necessary to limit this survey, as before indicated, to those countries alone which form the homes of English people, or are commonly visited by them in ordinary travel. Beginning with our Antipodes, it is hardly needful to go further New back than Mr Buller s beautiful Birds of New Zcalaiul (4to, Zealand. 1872-73), with coloured plates, by Mr Keulemans, since the publi cation of which the same author has issued a Manual of the Birds of New Zealand (8vo, 1882), founded on the former; but justice requires that mention be made of the labours of G. R. Gray, first in the Appendix to Dieffenbach s Travels in New Zealand (1843) and then in the ornithological portion of the. Zoology of the Voyaye of H.M.S. &quot;Erebus &quot; and &quot; Terror,&quot; begun in 1864, but left unfinished from the following year until completed by Mr Sharpe in 1876. A considerable number of valuable papers on the Ornithology of the country by Drs Hector and Von Haast, Prof. Hutton, Mr Potts, and others are to be found in the Trans actions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. Australia. Passing to Australia, we have the first good description of some of its Birds in the several old voyages and in Latham s works before mentioned (pages 6 and 8). Shaw s Zoology &amp;lt;&amp;gt;f New Holland (4to, 1794) ad led those of a few more, as did J. W. Lewin s Natural History of the Birds of New South Wales (4to, 1822), which reached a third edition in 1838. Gould s great Birds of Australia has been already named, and he subsequently reproduced with some additions the text of that work under the title of Handbook to the Birds of Australia (2 vols. 8vo, 1865). In 1866 Mr Diggles commenced a similar publication, The Ornithology of Australia, but the coloured plates, though fairly drawn, are not comparable to those of his pre decessor. This is still incomplete, though the parts that have appeared have been collected to form two volumes and issued with title-pages. Some notices of Austialian Birds by Mr Ramsay and otlurs arc to be found in the Proce&linf/s of the Limitean Sodcty ff New Mouth Wales and of the Royal Society &amp;lt;&amp;gt;f Tasmania. Ceylon. Coming to our Indian possessions, and beginning with Ceylon, we have Kelaart s Prodronus Faunae, Zcyhmioe (8vo, 1852), and the admirable Birds of Ceylon by Capt. Legge (4to, 1878-80), with coloured plates by Mr Keulemans of all the peculiar species. It is hardly possible to name any book that has been more conscien- India. tiously executed than this. In regard to continental India many 1 A very useful list of more general scope is given as the Appendix to an address by Mr Sclater to tiie British Association in 1875 (Report, pt. ii. pp. 114-133). of the more important publications have been named in a former article (BiRDS, iii. pp. 762, 763), and since that was written the chief work that lias appeared is Blyth s Mammals and Birds of Burma (Svo, 1875).- Jerdon s Birds of India (Svo, 1862-64; re printed 1877) still reigns supreme as the sole comprehensive work on the Ornithology of the Peninsula. A very fairly executed compilation on the subject by an anonymous writer is to be found in a late edition of the Cyclopaedia of India published at Madras. It is needless to observe that Stray Feathers, an ornithological journal for India and its dependencies, and maintained with much spirit by Mr A. O. Hume, contains many interesting and sonic valuable papers. In regard to South Africa, besides the well-known work of Le Vaillant already mentioned, there is the second volume of Sir Andrew Smith s Illustrations if the Zoology of .South Africa (4to, 1838-42), which is devoted to birds. This is an important but cannot be called a satisfactory work. Its one hundred and four teen plates by Ford truthfully represent one hundred and twenty- two of the mounted specimens obtained by the author in his explorations into the interior. Mr Layard s handy Birds of South Africa (Svo, 1867), though by ho means free from faults, has much to recommend it. A so-called new edition of it by Mr Sharpe has since appeared (1875-84), but is executed on a plan so wholly different that it must be regarded as a distinct work. Andersson s Notes on the Birds of Damara Land (Svo, 1S72) has been carefully edited by Mr Gurney, whose knowledge of South- African ornithology is perhaps greater than that of any one else. It is much to be regretted that of the numerous sporting books that treat of this part of the world so few give any important information respecting the Birds. Of special works relating to the British r est Indies, Waterton s well-known Wanderings has passed through several editions since its first appearance in 1825, and must be mentioned here, though, strictly speaking, much of the country he traversed was not British territory. To Dr Cabanis we are indebted for the ornithological results.of Richard Schomburgh s researches given in the third volume (pp. 662-765) of the latter a Ilciscn irn Britisch- Guiana (Svo, 1848). and then in Leotaud s Oiscau.v de Tile de la Trinidad (Svo, 1S66). Of the Antilles there is only to be named Mr Gosse s excellent Birds of Jamaica (12mo, 1847), together with its Illustra tions (sm. fol., 1849) beautifully executed by him. A nominal list, with references, of the Birds of the island is contained in the Handbook of Jamaica for 1S81 (pp. 103-117). So admirable a &quot; List of Faunal Publications relating to North American Ornithology&quot; up to the year 1878 has been given by Dr Cones as an appendix to his Birds of the Colorado Valley (pp. 567- 784) that nothing more of the kind is wanted except to notice the chief separate works which have since appeared. These may be said to be Mr Stearns s New England Bird Life (2 vols. Svo, 1881-83), revised by Dr Coues, and the several editions of his own Check List of North, American Birds (Svo, 1SS2), and Key to North American Birds (1884) ; while it maybe added that the conclud ing volumes of the North American Birds of Prof. Baird, the late Dr Brewer, and Mr Ridgway (the first three of which were pub lished in 1874) are expected to be issued about the time that these lines will meet the reader s eye. Yet some of the older works are still of sufficient importance to be especially mentioned here, and especially that of Alexander Wilson, whose American Ornithology, originally published between 1808 and 1814, has gone through more editions than there is room to specify, though mention should bo made of those issued in Great Britain, by Jameson (4 vols. 16mo, 1831), and Jardirie (3 vols. Svo, 1S32). The former of these has the entire text, but no plates ; the latter reproduces the. plates, but the text is in places much condensed, and excellent notes are added. A continuation of Wilson s work, under the same title and on the same plan, was issued by Bonaparte between 1825 and 1833, and most of the later editions include the work of both authors. The works of Audubon, Avith their continuations by Cassin and Mr Elliot, and the Fauna Boreali- Americana of Richardson and Swainson have already been noticed (pages 11 and 15); but they need naming here, as also does Nuttall s Manual of the Ornithology of the United States ami of Canada (2 vols., 1832-34 ; 2d ed., 1840) ; the Birds of Long Island (Svo, 1S44) by Giraud, remarkable for its excellent account of the habits of shore-birds ; and of course the Birds of North America (4to, 1858) by Prof. Baird, with the co operation of Cassin and Mr Lawrence, which originally formed a volume (ix. ) of what are known as the &quot;Pacific Railroad Reports. Apart from these special works the scientific journals of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington contain innumerable papers on the Ornithology of the country, while in 1876 the Bulletin of t/ic Nuttall Ornithological Club began to appear and continued until 1884, when it was superseded by The Auk, estab lished solely for the promotion of Ornithology in America, and - This is a posthumous publication, nominally forming an extra number of the Journal of the Asiatic Society; but, since it was separ ately issued, it is entitled to notice here. South Africa. West Indies North Ameri