‎MacGillivray, W.‎
‎A History of British Birds, indigenous and migratory: Including their Organization, Habits and Relations; Remarks on Classification and Nomenclature; an Account of the principal Organs of Birds, and Observations relative to practical Ornithology.‎

‎1837-1852 xvi, 631, xii, 503, xii, 768, xxviii, 700, xx, 688 p., 278, 100 figs, 29 lithographed pls, contemporary hcalf with marbled covers. Spine gilt and embossed with two black labels. Edges red. Spines rubbed and wear on outer ends. Margins of the plates with some faint foxing, two plates with a waterstain at bottom margin, two free endpapers missing, else a good, clean set. Plates were drawn by MacGillivray himself, and mostly show comparative anatomy. A complete natural history of the birds of Great Britain, written in great detail and containing a mass of information on the particulars of avian anatomy, as well as full accounts of the habits and characteristics of each of the species and a great deal of information of a general nature. The system of classification adopted by the author is unusual, but the general discussions and the anatomical descriptions are authoritative.‎

Reference : VV35364

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