the typical, the sub-typical, and the aberrant. The merit of first
uniting the Rasores, the Grallatores, and the Natatores into the
aberrant division of the class AVES, belongs to one no less ennobled
by birth than by philosophic knowledge. To Charles L ucien
B onaparte, P rince of M usignano, not only the eyes of America
but of Europe may be turned, as to one who seems destined by
Nature to confer imperishable benefits on this noble science.
The family names, according to general custom, terminate in idee.
No authority can be quoted for these names, since they have been
used by many, in opposite senses, without having been defined*.
The names of the sub-families terminate in inee, or occasionally in ante.
In the progress of the work through the press, much new information
has been acquired f , but I am happy to say without occasioning
any other alteration in my views than such as regard the sub-genera
of the genus Linaria, which seems to enter that of Coccothraustes by
means of the Green Linnet (Loxia chloris, L.). CoccothraUstes
melanura, vespertina, &c., thus constitute the Fissirostral type of this
sub-family, and preserve more closely its analogy to Bombycilla.
The assistance I have received in this arduous undertaking has
been so important that, notwithstanding the possession of one of the
largest ornithological museums in Britain, I question much whether
it could have been prosecuted without the united support of men of
science, of learning, and of liberality.
My first and greatest thanks are due to M. le Baron C uvier, and
to M. G eoffroy Saint-H ilaire, to whom the nature of my object
in visiting the French Museum was made known, and from whom I
received facilities for studying, rarely granted either to foreigners or
* On this point I shall, upon all occasions, act upon the following determination the “ Annulosa Javanica,” “ protesting” with him “ against the slovenly mode lately aodfo tphteed a ubyth soorm oef naturalists,” both in England and on the Continent, of publishing names without definitions—“ In
these pages all names of mere catalogues, fyc., shall be as much overlooked as if they never had existed Mactl eaTyh, eA nonp.i nJiaovn. , epx.p 1re0s.sed at p. 173,' that, our Cinclus Americanus was different from the
aCnindc lnuosw P ainll atshie, phoass's ebseseionn ofufl lMy rc. oGnfoirumlde.d bIty pae rfsepcetclyim aegnr eoesf wthieth l atthteer dbeisrcdr ipSteinotn fgriovmen Nbeyp aMul.,
Temminck.
to natives. Nothing redounds more to the honour of scientific institutions
than to see them superintended by such men, not only
great and illustrious by their own discoveries, but despising all those
national or petty feelings of jealousy which influence narrow minds.
To the politeness of M. I sidore G eoffroy S aint-H ilaire I have
elsewhere alluded*. Nor must I omit, in this place, to assure my
friend M. L esson of the grateful recollections I shall ever entertain
of his kindness, not only during my residence in Paris, but since my
return. To him am I indebted, among other interesting birds, for
the Fissirostral type of the Motacillinæ, which has fully confirmed all
I ventured to express at pp. 203 and 230.
Nor has our own N ational Museum proved an unproductive field
for research. Eich in the Ornithology of the Northern regions, it has
furnished much valuable information, and the means of determining
several new species. Whatever reasons there might have been for
censuring the general management of this institution, they have, we
believe, long ceased to exist. The magnificence of the new rooms
devoted to Zoology ; the sedulous care bestowed upon every donation ;
its immediate accessibility ; but, above all, the free and courteous manner
in which its treasures are gratuitously opened to the public and
to the man of science, demands the highest praise. Let but the
Government second the zeal of its officers, and the public lend their
aid by the contribution of specimens, and in a few years, the B ritish
M useum will reflect honour upon a powerful and wealthy nation.
To J. G. Children, Esq., as the Officer more particularly in charge
of the Zoological subjects, my thanks are especially due, not merely
for the courteous discharge of his official duty, but for all those
prompt and nameless facilities which a scientific student stands so
much in need of.
In the Ornithological productions of our Eastern Empire, the
Museum of the H onourable E ast I ndia Company is without parallel.
To this also I have had free and unrestrained access ; and this gratification
has been rendered doubly agreeable by the kindness and
* Zoological Illustrations, new Series, vol. i. pi. 8.