books and periodical literature devoted to the subject for information 

 gleaned from them, my acknowledgments are especially due a large 

 number of active field ornithologists and oologists who have kindly 

 placed at my disposal, their notes containing original observations on 

 the nesting and eggs of various birds. Others have furnished descrip- 

 tions of nests and eggs from specimens in their private collections 

 which, in many cases, were otherwise scarcely obtainable. 



The words "Egg Check lyist and Key" have been dropped from the 

 title-page of the present edition. 



OLIVER DAVIE. 

 Columbus, Ohio, June 24, 1889. 



