Faber’s Prodromus der isländischen Ornithologie (8vo, 1822), though
the island has since been visited by several good ornithologists—Proctor,
Krüper and Wolley among them. A list of its
birds, with some notes, bibliographical and biological, has
been given as an Appendix to Baring-Gould’s Iceland,
Scandinavia.
its Scenes and Sagas (8vo, 1862); and Shepherd’s North-west Peninsula
of Iceland (8vo, 1867) recounts a somewhat profitless expedition
made thither expressly for ornithological objects. For the birds of
the Faeroes there is H. C. Müller’s Faeröernes Fuglefauna (8vo, 1862),
of which a German translation has appeared.[1] The ornithology of
Norway has been treated in a great many papers by Herr Collett,
some of which may be said to have been separately published as
Norges Fugle (8vo, 1868; with a supplement, 1871), and The
Ornithology of Northern Norway (8vo, 1872)—this last in English.
For Scandinavia generally Herr Collin’s Skandinaviens Fugle (8vo,
1873) is a greatly bettered edition of the very moderate Danmarks
Fugle of Kjaerbölling; but the ornithological portion of Nilsson’s
Skandinavisk Fauna, Foglarna (3rd ed., 2 vols., 8vo, 1858) is of
great merit; while the text of Sundevall’s Svenska Foglarna (obl. fol.,
1856–1873), unfortunately unfinished at his death, and Herr
Holmgren’s Skandinaviens Foglar (2 vols. 8vo, 1866–1875) deserve naming.
Works on the birds of Germany are far too numerous to be recounted. That of the two Naumanns stands at the head of all, and perhaps at the head of the “Faunal” works of all countries. It has been added to by C. R. Hennicke—Naumann’s Birds of Middle Europe (1907). For want of space it Germany. must here suffice simply to name some of the ornithologists who have elaborated, to an extent elsewhere unknown, the science as regards their own country: Altum, Baldamus, Bechstein, Blasius (father and two sons), Bolle, Borggreve, whose Vogel-Fauna von Norddeutschland (8vo, 1869) contains what is practically a bibliographical index to the subject, Brehm (father and sons), Von Droste, Gätke, Gloger, Hintz, Alexander and Eugen von Homeyer, Jäckel, Koch, König-Warthausen, Krüper, Kutter, Landbeck, Landois, Leisler, Von Maltzan, Bernard Meyer, Von der Mühle, Neumann, Tobias, Johann Wolf and Zander.[2] Were we to extend the list beyond the boundaries of the German empire, and include the ornithologists of Austria, Bohemia and the other states subject to the same monarch, the number would be nearly doubled; but that would overpass our proposed limits, though Herr von Pelzeln must be named.[3] Passing onward to Switzerland, we must content ourselves by referring to the list of works, forming a Bibliographia ornithologica Helvetica, drawn up by Dr Stölker for Dr Fatio’s Italy. Bulletin de la Société Ornithologique Suisse (ii. pp. 90–119). As to Italy, we can but name here the Fauna d’Italia, of which the second part, Uccelli (8vo, 1872), by Count Salvadori contains an excellent bibliography of Italian works on the subject, and the posthumously published Ornitologia italiana of Savi (3 vols. 8vo, 1873–1877).[4] Coming to the Iberian peninsula, we must in default of separate works depart from our rule of not mentioning contributions to journals, for of the former there are only Colonel Irby’s Ornithology of the Straits of Gibraltar (8vo, 1875) and Mr A. C. Smith’s Spring Tour in Portugal[5] to be named, and these only partially cover the ground. However, Dr A. E. Brehm has published a list of Spanish birds (Allgem. deutsche naturhist. Zeitung, iii. p. 431), and The Ibis contains several excellent papers by Lord Lilford and by H. Saunders, the latter of whom there records (1871, p. 55) the few works on ornithology by Spanish authors, and in the Bulletin de la Société Zoologique de France (i. p. 315; ii. pp. 11, 89, 185) has given a list of the Spanish birds known to him.
Returning northwards, we have of the birds of the whole of
France nothing of real importance more recent than the volume
Oiseaux in Vieillot’s Faune française (8vo, 1822–1829);
but there is a great number of local publications of which
Mr Saunders has furnished (Zoologist, 1878, pp. 95-99) a catalogue.
France.
Some of these seem only to have appeared in journals, but many
have certainly been issued separately. Those of most interest to
English ornithologists naturally refer to Britanny, Normandy and
Picardy, and are by Baillon, Benoist, Blandin, Bureau, Canivet,
Chesnon, Degland, Demarle, De Norguet, Gentil, Hardy, Lemetteil,
Lemonnicier, Lesauvage, Maignon, Marcotte, Nourry and Taslé,
while perhaps the Ornithologie parisienne of M. René Paquet, under
the pseudonym of Nérée Quepat, should also be named. Of the rest
the most important are the Ornithologie provençale of Roux (2 vols.
4to, 1825–1829); Risso’s Histoire naturelle . . . des environs de
Nice (5 vols. 8vo. 1826–1827); the Ornithologie du Dauphiné of
Bouteille and Labatie (2 vols. 8vo, 1843–1844); the Faune
méridional of Crespon (2 vols. 8vo, 1844); the Ornithologie de la Savoie
of Bailly (4 vols. 8vo, 1853–1854), and Les Richesses ornithologiques
du midi de la France (4to, 1859–1861) of MM. Jaubert and
Belgium.
Holland.
Barthélemy-Lapommeraye. For Belgium the Faune
belge of Baron De Selys-Longchamps (8vo, 1842), old as
it is, remains the classical work, though the Planches coloriées
des oiseaux de la Belgique of M. Dubois (8vo, 1851–1860) is so much
later in date. In regard to Holland we have Schlegel’s
De Vogels van Nederland (3 vols. 8vo, 1854–1858; 2nd ed.,
vols., 1878), besides his De Dieren van Nederland: Vogels (8vo,
1861).
Before considering the ornithological works relating solely to the British Islands, it may be well to cast a glance on a few of those that refer to Europe in general, the more so since most of them are of Continental origin. First we have the already-mentioned Manuel d’ornithologie of Temminck, Europe in general. which originally appeared as a single volume in 1815;[6] but that was speedily superseded by the second edition of 1820, in two volumes. Two supplementary parts were issued in 1835 and 1840 respectively, and the work for many years deservedly maintained the highest position as the authority on European ornithology—indeed in England it may almost without exaggeration be said to have been nearly the only foreign ornithological work known; but, as could only be expected, grave defects are now to be discovered in it. Some of them were already manifest when one of its author’s colleagues, Schlegel (who had been employed to write the text for Susemihl’s plates, originally intended to illustrate Temminck’s work), brought out his bilingual Revue critique des oiseaux d’Europe (8vo, 1844), a very remarkable volume, since it correlated and consolidated the labours of French and German, to say nothing of Russian, ornithologists. Of Gould’s Birds of Europe (5 vols. fol., 1832–1837) nothing need be added to what has been already said. The year 1849 saw the publication of Degland’s Ornithologie européenne (2 vols. 8vo), a work fully intended to take the place of Temminck’s; but of which Bonaparte, in a caustic but by no means ill-deserved Revue critique (12 mo, 1850), said that the author had performed a miracle since he had worked without a collection of specimens and without a library. A second edition, revised by M. Gerbe (2 vols. 8vo, 1867), strove to remedy, and to some extent did remedy, the grosser errors of the first, but enough still remain to make few statements in the work trustworthy unless corroborated by other evidence. Meanwhile in England Dr Bree had in 1858 begun the publication of The Birds of Europe not observed in the British Isles (4 vols. 8vo), which was completed in 1863, and in 1875 reached a second and improved edition (5 vols.). In 1862 M. Dubois brought out a similar work on the “Espèces non observées en Belgique,” being supplementary to that of his above named. In 1870 Anton Fritsch completed his Naturgeschichte der Vögel Europas (8vo, with atlas in folio); and in 1871 Messrs Sharpe and Dresser began the publication of their Birds of Europe, which was completed by the latter in 1879 (8 vols. 4to), and is unquestionably the most complete work of its kind, both for fulness of information and beauty of illustration—the coloured plates being nearly all by Keulemans. This work has since been completed by H. E. Dresser’s Supplement to the Birds of Europe (1896). H. Noble’s List of European Birds (1898) is a useful compilation, and Dresser’s magnificent Eggs of the Birds of Europe is another great contribution by that author to European ornithology.
Coming now to works on British birds only, the first of the present century that requires remark is Montagu’s Ornithological Dictionary (2 vols. 8vo, 1802; supplement 1813), the merits of which have been so long and so fully acknowledged both abroad and at home that no further comment is here British Isles. wanted. In 1831 Rennie brought out a modified edition of it (reissued in 1833), and Newman another in 1866 (reissued in 1883); but those who wish to know the author’s views had better consult the original. Next in order come the very inferior British Ornithology of Graves (3 vols. 8vo, 1811–1821), and a work with the same title by Hunt (3 vols. 8vo, 1815–1822), published at Norwich, but never finished. Then we have Selby’s Illustrations of British Ornithology, two folio volumes of coloured plates engraved by himself, between 1821 and 1833, with letterpress also in two volumes (8vo, 1825–1833), a second edition of the first volume being also issued (1833), for the author, having yielded to the pressure of the “Quinarian” doctrines then in vogue, thought it necessary to adjust his classification accordingly, and it must be admitted that for information the
- ↑ Journal für Ornithologie (1869), pp. 107, 341, 381. One may almost say an English translation also, for Major Feilden’s contribution to the Zoologist for 1872 on the same subject gives the most essential part of Herr Müller’s information.
- ↑ This is, of course, no complete list of German ornithologists. Some of the most eminent of them have written scarcely a line on the birds of their own country, as Cabanis (editor since 1853 of the Journal für Ornithologie), Finsch, Hartlaub, Prince Max of Wied, A. B. Meyer, Nathusius, Nehrkorn, Reichenbach, Reichenow and Schalow among others.
- ↑ A useful ornithological bibliography of the Austrian-Hungarian dominions was printed in the Verhandlungen of the Zoological and Botanical Society of Vienna for 1878, by Victor Ritter von Tschusi zu Schmidhofen. A similar bibliography of Russian ornithology by Alexander Brandt was printed at St Petersburg in 1877 or 1878.
- ↑ A useful compendium of Greek and Turkish ornithology by Drs Krüper and Hartlaub is contained in Mommsen’s Griechische Jahrzeiten for 1875 (Heft III.). For other countries in the Levant there are Canon Tristram’s Fauna and Flora of Palestine (4to, 1884) and Captain Shelley’s Handbook to the Birds of Egypt (8vo, 1872).
- ↑ In the final chapter of this work the author gives a list of Portuguese birds, including besides those observed by him those recorded by Professor Barboza du Bocage in the Gazeta medica de Lisboa (1861), pp. 17-21.
- ↑ Copies are said to exist bearing the date 1814.
