Page:Nests and eggs of Australian birds 1901.djvu/13

 It may be also explained that the numerals on the right hand of the name of the species are referable to the numbers in Gould's "Handbook," and that I have endeavoured to describe typical eggs only, as concisely as possible without elaborated details; while any descriptions of birds must not be taken as strictly technical, but merely as a guide to the identity of the species under notice, in case of a reader or beginner being in doubt. A retrospective glance will show the progress of Australian Oology. What with the discovery of new birds and the amalgamation of old forms, the total number of Australian birds remains at about 765 species. Gould's "Handbook" continued 202 descriptions of eggs, my Manual mentioned 413, while the present work brings the number up to considerably over 600, or all the known eggs.

Perhaps I cannot do better than here recite the names and deeds (in brief) of those who have preceded me at field work. Head and shoulders above all, of course, comes the giant Gould; and in writing the following remarks concerning him I have been guided by an excellent "Biographical Memoir" by Dr. R. Bowdler Sharpe in his "Analytical Index" to the works of the great author.

John Gould was born at Lyme, in Dorsetshire, England, 14th September, 1804, and, when quite an infant, his parents went to live at Stoke Hill, near Guildford; and it was in this beautiful neighbourhood that the child first imbibed his notions of the beauty of natural life. When young Gould was 14 years of age, his father received a good appointment in the Royal Gardens at Windsor, where the boy assisted him in gardening. By this time he had begun the study of birds, and made his first acquaintance with many British species in the royal domains. He was also reported to be a good taxidermist.

In 1827, Gould obtained some kind of appointment at the Zoological Society, then in its infancy. A year or two after receiving this appointment, he married Miss Coxen, daughter of Nicholas Coxen, a Kentish gentleman, and to this lady (it often happens that the wife makes or mars the man) is due much of the ultimate success of her husband's career, for she was an accomplished artist, and painted no less than 600 of his bird pictures.

In 1832 Gould's first work, the "Century of Birds from the Himalaya Mountains," was published. Shortly afterwards he left the service of the Zoological Society. In 1837 appeared his first Australian work, the "Synopsis of the Birds of Australia," wherein were figured the heads of most of the species of birds known to inhabit our Island Continent up to that time.