out meeting with a covey or a pack of grey ptarmigans. These birds gather into large flocks at an earlier period than the brown species; even by the end of July. From the beginning of spring to the close of autumn, they reside on the summits or rocky slopes of the hills, seldom or never entering the region of heath; but in winter, during snow-storms, they shift their residence, and betake themselves for a while to a somewhat lower station. Their food consists of various plants, chiefly of a shrubby nature. Thus, in the crops of the individuals first described above, was contained a large quantity of fresh green twigs of Calluna vulgaris, Vaccinium Myrtillus, and Empetrum nigrum, the largest fragments not exceeding five-twelfths of an inch in length. Leaves and twigs of Vaccinium Vitis-idæa, Salix herbacea, seeds of various Junceæ and Cyperaceæ, and other plants, with berries in autumn, also form part of their food; which is thus, in fact, for the most part the same as that of the brown ptarmigan.

"It is a remarkable fact that all the grouse and ptarmigans which I have examined invariably select small fragments of white or hyaline quartz to aid the trituration of their food in the gizzard. Indeed, most of the phytiphagous birds do the same, although I have also found in the gizzards of many of them fragments of felspar, and in those of some even bits of coal and other substances. The process of digestion and assimilation is performed in the grey ptarmigan in the same manner as in the brown species and the black grouse; but as persons who enter into anatomical details have been accused of neglecting physiological explanations, I may be permitted to state the progressive changes which the food undergoes."

The following presents the contrast of a concise, as the former extract of a diffuse style, each well adapted to the subject treated of. He is describing to a companion the different modes of flight. "Before us are some birds in the hedge, chaffinches, which, as you observe, fly in a manner somewhat different from that of the sparrows. Then, the rooks, which you see high in the air, moving steadily and sedately along, with regularly-timed beats of their expanded wings, and now, as if seized with some sudden panic, or impelled by some frolicsome propensity, dashing down headlong, crossing each other, whirling and undulating: how different is their flight from that of those wood-pigeons, which advance with rapidity, moving their wings with quick strokes, and making the air whistle as they glide along; while the two white gulls, with their outstretched, long, arched wings, float buoyantly in the clear sky, bending gently to either side, as they advance from the sea.

"There certainly is a striking difference. I never thought of comparing the flights of birds.

"In time you will be able to distinguish, by their modes of flying, small birds so distant that you cannot perceive even the general tints of their plumage. Birds might be classed by their flight, and an arrangement having that faculty for its basis, would, I believe, prove as useful as one founded on the form of the feet, or of any other organ. But there goes a wren. See what a right forward, short, whirring flight the little thing has; how it flits along the fence, perches on a stump, jerks up its tail, chirps its small sharp

notes, nods and becks, and is off. There, too, a hedge-sparrow, which some call shufflewing, from a habit of slightly raising and shaking its wings; it hops away very quietly but nimbly, gets among the roots, shifts along, and flies in under the brambles, where it conceives itself secure."

Perhaps we have said enough on the subject of the author's style. Truth, however, requires us to say, that we have occasionally observed something like ridicule, or at any rate of slighting, when noticing the remarks of the "skin and closet naturalists," which, though perhaps not undeserved, tends to irritate, and might as well have been avoided.

It is difficult to observe at all times the exact medium between a too contracted and a too diffuse style, or to suit the various diversities of taste; but we think that a few of the narratives of excursions in the present volume might have been somewhat abridged, without injury to its value as an ornithological work, though in this opinion we can hardly expect the concurrence of our country readers, nor perhaps of the student of ornithology himself.

But it is time that we proceed to give an outline of the work itself. It professes to be an original production, the first of a regular systematic series. On the basis of a scientific arrangement, and of full anatomical and physiological details, the author's object is "to lay before the public descriptions of the Birds of Great Britain, more extended, and, if possible, more correct, than any previously offered; which, while calculated to interest the lover of nature, and serve as his guide and instructor in his favourite study, may tend, at the same time, "to establish a more rational method of inquiry," and to "advance the progress of science."

From such a plan, we are led to expect something of a higher order than is presented in some of the ornithological productions of the present day. It would not be very difficult to get up a neat-looking book, adorned with plates of figures, gaudily coloured, to prevent an over-nice inspection of their accuracy, containing a short description, taken from any work at hand, with numerous anecdotes, that will do for any half dozen birds, of somewhat similar size, colour, and habits; but after a perusal, the reader knows about as much of the structure and real habits of the bird as before, and perhaps would be at a loss to recognise it, did he not find above the plate "It is the lark, the

herald of the morn." Perchance, even still, he might rather think with Juliet, "It is the nightingale and not the lark."

Let us see, then, how far the work before us deserves a higher title. The following is a brief outline of it, which we shall preface by the author's opinion of what the description of a bird implies.

"To acquire a satisfactory knowledge of any bird, one must, in the first place, obtain a general knowledge of its external appearance, so as not only to be able to distinguish it at sight, but also to know in what respects it resembles others, or differs from them. Then he ought to examine its interior, and more especially its digestive organs, which indicate the nature of its food, the latter necessarily determining its haunts. He now seeks it there and observes its mode of walking and flying, its favourite places of resort, and its various actions, listens to its notes, follows it to its nest, which he inspects, and takes note of its migrations or local shiftings. The food can be detected with accuracy only by opening the crop and gizzard; and the changes in the colour of the plumage can be ascertained only by procuring individuals at different seasons. In attending to these and other particulars, one necessarily requires much enthusiasm, and consumes much time. Indeed the task of writing the history of a bird not of common occurrence, such as the golden eagle, the raven, or the rock-pigeon, is by no means so easy as might be imagined, unless to those who merely compose it from the accounts given by original observers, whom they frequently greatly excel in popular estimation, although in very many instances they cannot so much as have seen the objects of which they so confidently write. When the student has rendered himself familiar with a few species, his pursuits daily become more interesting; and if he at the same time compare his notes with the descriptions given by authors, he will find additional pleasure in observing the particulars in which there is a mutual agreement, and perhaps in occasionally detecting errors in his own or their statements. But at what precise period he becomes an ornithologist, I cannot venture to affirm: whether the first day on which he brings home a sparrow or a chaffinch, or after he has studied an hundred birds, and read the works of half as many authors."

In the first or introductory part, after giving an outline of the classifications of Linnæus and Vieillot, the author proceeds to point out the method of arrangement, to be followed in the succeeding descriptions." His plan is to group the species according to their obvious relations, and in addition to the bill, from which the characters have generally been taken, it is a peculiarity of his plan that he adopts the intestinal canal as a

* In the present volume are described the orders of

1. Gallinaceous Birds. Pheasant, grouse, ptarmigan, partridge, quail, &c. 2. Cooers or Pigeons. Ringed dove, rock dove, turtle dove, &c.

3. Huskers or Conirostral Birds. Sparrows, finches, linnets, buntings, &c.

4. Crows and allied Genera. Ravens, crows, magpies, jay, starling, &c.

central point of reference, as in its modifications throwing more light upon the affinities of the larger groups of birds than those of any other organ, and as determining their food, their haunts, and their habits. Next follows, under the modest title of "Remarks on the Structure of Birds,” very full anatomical and physiological details, under the heads of "the skeleton, the muscular system, nervous system, digestive organs, the wings, feet, tail, structure, muscles," &c., the whole illustrated by numerous minutely finished plates, researches for which the author's well known skill in drawing and medical education peculiarly fit him.

The second part is devoted to the description of the birds under the four orders we have mentioned, and is illustrated by woodcuts of the parts from which the essential characters are taken. The order generally followed is to describe the external and internal form of the male and female, the variations, the haunts, the food, the breeding and nestling the young, and their progress towards maturity, habits, and other remarks. Our limits forbid us presenting interesting descriptions of some of the most familiar.

Under the head of "Practical Ornithology," Mr Macgillivray has taken the opportunity of conveying information which cannot with propriety be treated of in connection with the regular descriptions, such as the flights of birds, bat-hunting, birds in a snow-storm-how they find shelter and food-bird-nesting, directions for preserving eggs, and other practical information. A few lessons on these subjects, conveyed in a familiar style, serve to interest the general reader, and to relieve the uniformity of description, while at the same time they are valuable to the practical student.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE USES AND MANAGEMENT OF HEATH.* By Mr WILLIAM HOGG, Shepherd, Peeblesshire.

No prospect has a more dismal and desolate appearance than a hill or glen shaggy with old heath; nor is its produce of more value than its view is dreary. It yields little for the support of

* This paper is a continuation of one on the same subject at p. 42. vol. vi. of this Journal.-EDITOR.

animal life, and neither man nor beast can traverse it but with difficulty. If exposed to the south, it is dry and rocky; it is often the receptacle of venomous reptiles, which pollute the soil, and endanger the safety of any creature which may linger about it. Any description of stock that can be put on it, is quite disproportioned in numbers to its extent, and of the few that are destined to pasture it, there is little prospect of their ever acquiring either bone or fatness. The finest summers add almost nothing to its greenness, and it stands neglected and disregarded, and in turn gives almost nothing to its owners. Its bushes are hoary and their branches withered; even the grouse, which will scarcely forsake their native spot, abandon it and fly to tracts of younger heath, where they find the leaves juicy and nutritive. Destroy this profusion of useless heath and what is the consequence? The earth is immediately clothed in a light green with abundance of food for sheep. Let us attend to the progress of such an improvement.

The progress of the flame is regulated by the age and dryness of the heath; the burning is most powerful and complete when the air is calm or the progress of the flame is opposed by a moderate gale; the devouring element then, as it were, presses down upon the soil, and more effectually clears it of impurities. The smoke has scarcely left the field when numbers of the carrion-crow hover over it in all directions to pick up half-scorched insects which cannot make their escape, or small reptiles which they know they can manage. If the operation has been perfect and complete, the whole tract is at once laid bare and open to light, heat, dews, mists, and all the genial influences of the succeeding summer; besides, the air soon floats with the seeds of mountain grasses, which lighting on this newly opened surface, would vegetate strongly and immediately, but that their growth is partly prevented by a few incidental adverse peculiarities to burnt ground, which it is impossible to prevent. In the first place, the roots of the old heath are uninjured by the flame, are fresh beneath the surface, and still continue their functions; these spread in all directions, continuing to extract nourishment from the earth, and considerably disable it from affording that support to other plants, whose seeds may happen to alight at random on the naked soil. Secondly, the old heath smothers