21 JANUARY 1837, Page 19

The chief features of the Ornithological Guide, by CHARLES TooaoLo

Woon, Esq., are a proposal for a new and popularly scientific nomenclature of birds, by which the present discrepan- cies and contradictions in their names shall be avoided, and a ca- talogue raisonne of the different English works on ornithology. The project is deserving attention for its ingenuity ; and doubt- less it is desirable to effect something of the sort—but how ? It may be absurd for people to call a bird a hedge-sparrow, when it is not of the genus Passer, but who can bid a nation change its familiar terms ? The catalogue gives a clear and apparently a fair account of the books it notices, and intending purchasers will doubtless find it useful ; but Mr. WOOD has uo particular abilities as a reviewer, much less us a critic.