THE MIRROR
OF
LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.
| Vol. 19. No. 550.] | SATURDAY, JUNE 2, 1832 | [PRICE 2d. |
RARE ARCTIC BIRDS.
THE WHITE-HORNED OWL
THE COCK OF THE PLAINS
LEGS AND FEET OF THE MOUNTAIN GROUSE.Few of the results of recent expeditions of discovery have beenso interesting to the public as their contributions to zoologicalhistory. Many important additions to geographical science have alsobeen made by these journeys into countries hitherto unexplored, orbut imperfectly known by Europeans; but the interest is not of thatattractive character which is more or less attached to the naturalhistory of these districts. The great delight that we take in thelatter species of knowledge is referable to the curiosity we feelrespecting the inhabitants of a country after we have once beenassured of its existence. Our first inquiries naturally enoughrelate to the tenants of our own species; we then ask whatdescription of quadrupeds are found over its plains, and how farthey enlarge or circumscribe the enjoyments and liberty ofsovereign man; the birds that warble in its groves, the insectsthat flutter in its breeze, the fish that tenant its seas, rivers,and lakes, and the plants that wave in wild luxuriance on its hillsand dales; and by comparing all these varieties with the naturalcharacteristics of our own country, and contrasting theirdifferences with others, we are enabled, in some degree, toappreciate, by the linked gradations, the order and harmony thatreign throughout nature—the minute beauty of parts which areso essential to the perfection of the grand whole.
The last overland expedition to the Polar sea, under the commandof Captain Sir John Franklin, was peculiarly fortunate in thecollection of objects of natural history, which indeed were toonumerous for the limits of an appendix, such as had appeared withthe narratives of previous expeditions. Hence the number of thespecimens warranted their publication in a separate form, under theable superintendance of Dr. Richardson, surgeon and naturalist tothe expedition, aided by Mr. Swainson. The great expense of therequisite embellishment of the ornithological portion, however,threatened a formidable obstacle to its completeness; but this wasmet by a liberal grant of one thousand pounds by the BritishGovernment, to be applied solely towards the expense of theengravings—the present being the first zoological work everpublished with the sterling assistance of His Majesty's Treasury.The first part of this truly great national wo