page_title: A History of British Birds
section_title: Land birds
hierarchical_section_title: A History of British Birds / Outline / Land birds
caption_attribution_description: English: Woodcut by Thomas Bewick in History of British Birds 1797-1804
context_page_description: A History of British Birds is a natural history book by Thomas Bewick, published in two volumes. Volume 1, Land Birds, appeared in 1797. Volume 2, Water Birds, appeared in 1804. A supplement was published in 1821. The text in Land Birds was written by Ralph Beilby, while Bewick took over the text for the second volume. The book is admired mainly for the beauty and clarity of Bewick's wood-engravings, which are widely considered his finest work, and among the finest in that medium.
  British Birds has been compared to works of poetry and literature. It plays a recurring role in Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre. William Wordsworth praised Bewick in the first lines of his poem "The Two Thieves": "Oh now that the genius of Bewick were mine, And the skill which he learned on the banks of the Tyne."
  The book was effectively the first "field guide" for non-specialists. Bewick provides an accurate illustration of each species, from life if possible, or from skins. The common and scientific name are listed, citing the naming authorities. The bird is described, with its distribution and behaviour, often with extensive quotations from printed sources or correspondents.
context_section_description: The first volume "containing the History and Description of Land Birds" begins with a preface, an introduction, and a list of technical terms illustrated with Bewick's woodcuts. The introduction begins:
  In no part of the animal creation are the wisdom, the goodness, and the bounty of Providence displayed in a more lively manner than in the structure, formation, and various endowments of the feathered tribes.
  The birds are divided into granivorous (grain eating) and carnivorous groups, which are explained in some detail. The speed, senses, flight, migration, pairing behaviour and feeding of birds are then discussed, with observations from Spallanzani and Gilbert White, whose Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne was published in 1789. The pleasure of watching birds is mentioned:
  To the practical ornithologist there arises a considerable gratification in being able to ascertain the distinguishing characters of birds as they appear at a distance, whether at rest, or during their flight; for not only every genus has something peculiar to itself, but each species has its own appropriate marks, by which a judicious observer may discriminate almost with certainty.
  Bewick also mentions conservation, in the context of the probable local extinction of a valuable resource:
  "Both this and the Great Bustard are excellent eating, and would well repay the trouble of domestication; indeed, it seems surprising, that we should suffer these fine birds to be in danger of total extinction, although, if properly cultivated, they might afford as excellent a repast as our own domestic poultry, or even as the Turkey, for which we are indebted to distant countries."
  The 1847 edition, revised with additional woodcuts and descriptions, is organized as follows, with the species grouped into families such as the shrikes:
  Birds of Prey
  Of the Falcon (includes buzzard, sparrowhawk)
  Of the Owl
  Omnivorous Birds
  Insectivorous Birds
  Of the Shrike
  Of the Flycatchers
  Of the Warblers
  Of the Wagtail
  Granivorous Birds
  Of the Lark
  Of the Titmouse
  Of the Bunting
  Of the Finch
  Of the Woodpecker
  Of the Swallow
  Of the Gallinaceous kind (gamebirds)
  Of the Grouse
  Of the Bustard
caption: Woodcut of "The Great Bustard". A horseman and pair of greyhounds gallop after another bustard in the background.
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