Preface 
leading insect forms of Great Britain and the Continent, have been 
produced in great numbers in recent years in England, France, 
and Germany. The result is that the youthful collector enters, the 
field in those countries in the possession of a vast advantage over 
his less fortunate American fellow. It is to meet this Want on 
this side of the Atlantic that this volume has been written. Its 
aim is to guide the amateur collector in right paths and to pre¬ 
pare him by the intelligent accomplishment of his labors for the 
enjoyment of still wider and more difficult researches in this and 
allied fields of human knowledge. The work is confined to the 
fauna of the continent of North America north of the Rio Grande 
of Texas. It is essentially popular in its character. Those who 
seek a more technical treatment must resort to the writings of 
others. 
If I shall succeed in this book in creating a more wide-spread 
/nterest in the world of insect life and thereby diverting attention 
in a measure from the persecuted birds, which I love, but which 
are in many species threatened with extinction by the too eager 
attentions which they are receiving from young naturalists, who 
are going forth in increased numbers with shot-gun in hand, 1 
think I shall render a good service to the country. 
I flatter myself that I have possessed peculiar facilities for the 
successful accomplishment of the undertaking I have proposed to 
myself, because of the possession of what is admitted to be un¬ 
doubtedly the largest and most perfect collection of the butterflies 
of North America in existence, containing the types of W. H. Ed¬ 
wards, and many of those of other authors. I have also enjoyed 
access to all the other great collections of this country and Europe, 
and have had at my elbow the entire literature relating to the 
subject. 
The successful development in recent months of the process of 
reproducing in colors photographic representations of objects has 
been to a certain degree the argument for the publication of this 
book at the present time. A few years ago the preparation of 
such a work as this at the low price at which it is sold would 
have been an utter impossibility. “The Butterflies of North 
America,” by W. H. Edwards, published in three volumes, is 
sold at one hundred and fifty dollars, and, as I know, is sold even 
at this price below the cost of manufacture. “ The Butterflies of 
New England,” by Dr. S. H. Scudder, in three volumes, is sold 
at seventy-five dollars, and likewise represents at this price only 
