Already  considerable  advance  has  been  made  from  Cuvier's
system,  yet  each  step  seems  to  emphasise  the  pure  artificial-
lity  of  the  present  arrangement.  But  most  ornithologists
have  accepted  the  theory  that,  as  at  present  known,  the
Trush  family  are  the  most  highly  developed,  though  Seebohm,
one  of  the  greatest  of  English  authorities,  clings  to  the  Cuvi-
arian  system  and  places  the  Birds  of  Prey  first,  explaining
however  that  he  does  so,  because  the  Cuviarian  system  is  the
best  known  and  because  the  natural  other  system  has  not
yet  been  discovered.  I  am  inclined  to  agree  with  him.  There
would  have  been  wisdom  in  retaining  the  old  until  the  new
had  been  perfected  and  so  have  saved  the  continual  changing
which  the  present  state  of  affairs  involve.  Each  student  finds
a  little  bit  of  additional  knowledge  and  at  once  tries  to
make  the  entire  system  conform  to  it,  to  the  ultra  confusion
of  system."— (Zetfer  24th  March,  1891).
Classification  is  one  of  the  most  important  portions
of  ornithology.  A  new  light  has  dawned  on  this  .science
since  the  learned  researches  of  Dr.  Thos.  Brewer,  of
Boston,  and  other  American  and  European  savants
who  have  applied  oology  to  the  classification  of  species  ;
thus,  several  rare  hawks,  in  different  plumage,  have
been  recognized  by  their  eggs.  The  eggs  of  owls,  instead
of  being  elliptical  like,  those  of  the  generality  of  birds,
are  spherical.  Eggs  are  also  identified  by  their  markings,
lines,  spots,  stripes,  or  by  the  absence  of  them,  like
the  eggs  of  some  of  the  thrushes.
Before  we  examine  the  contents  of  the  collection
before  us,  let  me  point  out  one  particular  respecting
the  birds  of  prey :  the  female  in  general  is  nearly
one-third  larger  than  the  male.
