ART. III. ADDITIONAL NOTICES OF BOOKS.

Ornithologia Nova: or a new General History of Birds, extracted from the best authorities in various languages, both antient and modern, 2 vols. 12mo. Birmingham, printed by T. Warren. 1743.

We never saw this production, nor had we so much as heard of it, until we were supplied with the following account of it, by Edwin Lees, Esq.,* M.E.S., Honorary Curator of the Worcestershire Natural History Society, in a letter dated Dec. 27, 1835:

"No author's name is appended to the Ornithologia Nova, though reference is continually made to Willughby, Ray, Derham, Sibbald, Johnson, and others, and copious extracts are given from works of travels. It is, however, chiefly remarkable for 'four hundred figures'-woodcuts-apparently made for the occasion, and, though the majority are execrable, a few are really spirited and characteristic. In execution they will of course bear no comparison with any cut of the present day. Amidst a good deal of rubbish and

*To the kind attention of Mr. Lees, we are likewise indebted for a copy of the "Proceedings at the Second Anniversary Festival of the Worcestershire Nat. Hist. Soc., with the address of the Council, delivered by Chas. Hastings, M.D., the speech of the Right Hon. Lord Lyttelton; report of the speeches at the dinner, names of the officers and council, list of donations, &c."-N. W.

Q

absurdity, there are occasionally good remarks, and particular attention appears to be paid to British birds, with observations, which, had they received the attention they deserved, need not have protracted the discussion as to the migration of the Swallow for so many years after 1743, as the author, from personal observation, details the migration of these birds from the eastern coast of England at considerable length.”

Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales. By Jas. White. 4to. 1790.

This work, which had previously escaped our researches, contains much that is useful and interesting regarding the Ornithology of the region of which it treats. Amongst sixty-five plates, a large proportion are figures of birds, and these, with due allowances for the time at which the book appeared, are accurately delineated, and faithfully colored, and exhibit much life and spirit. From a cursory view of Mr. White's Journal, at the house of a friend in the neighbourhood, we can pronounce that the volume deserves to be far better known to Naturalists, than it appears to be at present.

Index to the General History of Birds. By John Latham, M.D., F. R. S., A.S., and L. S. Winchester, 1828. 4to.

Since the preceding sheets passed through the press, our venerable and amiable friend the celebrated Dr. LATHAM, has kindly presented us with a copy of the above work, which is intended as a complete and copious index to his great work, the General History of Birds. The index to each

volume is printed separately, and may be bound up at the end of the volumes to which they respectively refer. Every one who possesses the General History, should likewise procure the Index to it.-All the names, Latin, English, German, and French, and frequently also the Indian, are inserted, and, had the names, employed by the illustrious author, been in a different type from the others, the volume would have been extremely useful even to those who do not possess the General History of Birds.

Manual of the Ornithology of the United States, and Canada. By Thomas Nuttall, F.L.S. Vol. I, 1832. Vol. II, 1834. 12mo. £2. 2s.

This is indeed a valuable Manual, the descriptions being so surprisingly minute, accurate, and well-written, as scarcely to be inferior to those of Wilson. The wood-cuts are likewise spirited and well executed, and Nuttall must ever rank high among the Ornithologists of the present age. Every one interested in American birds, should possess this work. Hitherto Europe has produced no such field observers as the American trio, WILSON, AUDUBON, and NUTTALL.

Tales of Animals; comprising Quadrupeds, Birds, Fishes, Reptiles, and Insects. By Peter Parley. Third edition. London, Tegg and Son.

1834. 12mo. 5s.

Peter Parley's Tales of Animals have long been familiar to us, but somehow we managed to omit all notice of it in the previous part of this volume. To say the truth, indeed, it has no claims on the

attention of the Ornithologist, though it may perhaps be perused with interest by the general reader. The woodcuts-which are very numerous-are not original, but are well selected, and the accounts of birds consist either of some of their principal habits, or of such anecdotes as the author has been able to collect. On the whole it forms an instructive book for the young.

Familiar History of Birds. By the Rev. Edward Stanley, M.A., F. L. S. 7s. 2 vols. 12mo. London, 1835.

"The attractive and familiar guise in which scientific knowledge can be dressed, is most strikingly exemplified in this Familiar History of Birds, published under the direction of the Committee of General Literature & Education appointed by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.' It is one of the most instructive and at the same time interesting books on Natural History that has come under our notice. Those who read it will hardly help becoming Ornithologists, if they reside in the country. Young and old will learn from it how to glean knowledge that is constantly before their eyes in their every-day path, and to understand and apply it by the aid of

"It is an anecdotical account of the formation, habits, and instincts of birds; in which knowledge and entertainment are so intimately and felicitously blended, that the stories told derive fresh interest from the scientific facts that they illustrate. No better book could be put into the hands of young

That is, they will be put in the way of becoming Ornitholo gists.-N. W.

folks: it will open to them a new and never-failing source of amusement. The little girl, who is now content to watch the Robin [Redbreast] picking up crumbs at the window, and the schoolboy, whose only aim it is to carry off a nest as a trophy, will by means of this book be led to trace the instinct of self-preservation, in the commonest acts of the feathered tribes, and the wonderful adaptation of their structure to the most minute circumstance of the habits and locality peculiar to each class.

66 The two little volumes are illustrated with numerous wood-cuts, very bold and distinct. The only defect in them is the common one of the surrounding landscape being on too small a scale for the animals; so that a hare looks of the size of a roebuck, and a [Grey] Cuckoo is as big as the trunk of the oak on which he is perched."--Spectator.

We have likewise heard good report of Mr. Stanley's Familiar History of Birds from other quarters, and especially from our able ornithological correspondent, J. D. Weston, Esq., Surgeon, of Chester. Since writing the above, we have seen these volumes, and can recommend them as forming a cheap and excellent elementary work on birds.

Manuel d'Ornithologie, ou Tableau Systématique des Oiseaux qui se trouvent en Europe. Par C. J. Temminck. Partie III. Paris, 1835. 8vo. 7fr.

This is a continuation of the work noticed at p. 28, and contains all the new species discovered in Europe since the publication of the second edition of the previous volumes. Additional synonyms are likewise added to the species included in