Volume 1

A hand-book to the birds of Great Britain / [Richard Bowdler Sharpe].

  • Sharpe, Richard Bowdler, 1847-1909
Date:
1894-1897
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A hand-book to the birds of Great Britain / [Richard Bowdler Sharpe]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    PREFACE. Every ornithologist who, in the course of his career, may be called upon to write a book upon British Birds, will always find this to be one of the most interesting, but certainly one of the most difficult, tasks which he has ever undertaken. He is sure to discover that not only is the path well-worn, but that the work of his many predecessors has been so well done that little chance of originality remains to him. No country in the world has had more excellent books written about its birds than Great Britain, whether we consider illustrated works, such as those of Selby and Gould, or the attractive “ Coloured Figures of British Birds,” now being published by Lord Lil- ford; or the many exhaustive books on the life-histories of our native birds, such as those of Macgillivray, Yarrell, and others; or the excellent works on eggs published by Hewitson and Seebohm. Of the two leading publications on the subject, viz., those of Macgillivray and Yarrell, the palm for scientific merit must be given to that of the Scotch naturalist, and the increasing value of his works, day by day and year by year, testifies to an appreciation of his labour which would have gladdened and cheered him in his work, had such regard been bestowed upon him during his lifetime. The popularity of Yarrell’s “ History of British Birds,” with its exquisite little woodcuts, completely eclipsed the more modest publication of Macgillivray, and it