VI PREFACE. 



interest of the work, hoping tnereoy to excite in 

 some a degree of love for a study, which they will 

 find to be at once entertaining and instructive, as 

 well as conducive to the health of body and mind. 



We have confined our descriptions chiefly to the 

 Birds of the United States, but in a few instances 

 have introduced others for the purpose of better illus- 

 trating the subject, or increasing our information re- 

 specting the peculiarities of any tribe. 



It is proper to observe that, while many of the 

 cuts in the following pages are original, others are 

 after Audubon. 



