[Illustration: THE WHITE-HORNED OWL ]
[Illustration: THE COCK OF THE PLAINS ]
[Illustration: LEGS AND FEET OF THE MOUNTAIN GROUSE.]
Few of the results of recent expeditions of discovery have been so
interesting to the public as their contributions to zoological history.
Many important additions to geographical science have also been made by
these journeys into countries hitherto unexplored, or but imperfectly
known by Europeans; but the interest is not of that attractive character
which is more or less attached to the natural history of these
districts. The great delight that we take in the latter species of
knowledge is referable to the curiosity we feel respecting the
inhabitants of a country after we have once been assured of its
existence. Our first inquiries naturally enough relate to the tenants of
our own species; we then ask what description of quadrupeds are found
over its plains, and how far they enlarge or circumscribe the enjoyments
and liberty of sovereign man; the birds that warble in its groves, the
insects that flutter in its breeze, the fish that tenant its seas,
rivers, and lakes, and the plants that wave in wild luxuriance on its
hills and dales; and by comparing all these varieties with the natural
characteristics of our own country, and contrasting their differences
with others, we are enabled, in some degree, to appreciate, by the
linked gradations, the order and harmony that reign throughout
nature--the minute beauty of parts which are so essential to the
perfection of the grand whole.
The last overland expedition to the Polar sea, under the command of
Captain Sir John Franklin, was peculiarly fortunate in the collection of
objects of natural history, which indeed were too numerous for the
limits of an appendix, such as had appeared with the narratives of
previous expeditions. Hence the number of the specimens warranted their
publication in a separate form, under the able superintendance of Dr.
Richardson, surgeon and naturalist to the expedition, aided by Mr.
Swainson. The great expense of the requisite embellishment of the
ornithological portion, however, threatened a formidable obstacle to its
completeness; but this was met by a liberal grant of one thousand pounds
by the British Government, to be applied solely towards the expense of
the engravings--the present being the first zoological work ever
published with the sterling assistance of His Majesty's Treasury. The
first part of this truly great national work appeared some time since,
with 28 spirited figures of Mammalia, from drawings by Landseer; the
entomological and botanical parts are preparing for publication; and
that of _The Birds_, (to which we are indebted for the annexed Cuts,)
has very recently appeared.[1]
[1] _Fauna Boreali-Americana, or the Zoology of the Northern
Parts of British America_. Part II., containing the Birds. By W.
Swainson, Esq, F.R.S. and John Richardson, Esq., M.D. F.R.S.,
&c. 4to. 253 pages, with 50 coloured plates, and 40 illustrative
wood cuts. London, Murray, 1832.
Dr. Richardson, with zealous attachment to his pursuits, passed seven
summers and five winters surrounded by the objects he has described with
such fidelity. He is, therefore, not a mere book naturalist, but he has
studied the habits and zoological details of the living animals; Mr.
Swainson having assisted the Doctor in the systematic arrangement and
production of the plates. Their descriptions include all the birds
hitherto found over an immense expanse of country of the 49th parallel
of latitude, and east of the Rocky Mountains, which lie much nearer to
the Pacific Coast than to the eastern shore of America: many of these
birds being, for the first time, made known to ornithologists. We have
selected two of the most singular in their conformation: one from the
Owls, which are numerous and beautiful; and the other from the Grouse,
of which ten fine species are described.[2]
[2] Flocks of Ptarmigans, when pursued by the jar-falcon,
endeavour to save themselves by plunging instantly into the
loose snow, and making their way beneath it to a considerable
distance.
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