X INTRODUCTION. 



some cases they might have been amalgamated by Mr. Strick- 

 land, in some others probably nbt. The letters affixed to the 

 numbers, therefore, only indicate our own opinion of the iden- 

 tity of the species to which a common number is affixed. 



The authority for Museums or Habitats always refers only to 

 that after which it is immediately placed. 



The Collection of the Zoological Society, which is frequently 

 referred to as possessing specimens, is, we regret to say, already 

 partially dispersed ; and it will not, we fear, be very easy to 

 trace the specimens. Some have been purchased by the British 

 Museum, and are there easily accessible. We are not aware 

 that any have yet been sold abroad, but several have passed to 

 private museums. The dispersion of this collection is to be re- 

 gretted. It contained the entire ornithological collection of 

 the late N. A. Vigors, which was presented to the Society by 

 that gentleman soon after its establishment in Bruton Street, 

 where it was originally exhibited ; it was chiefly valuable for 

 reference as containing the types of most of the species men- 

 tioned and described by Mr. Vigors in his numerous zoological 

 papers in the Zoological Journal and elsewhere. Many of Sir 

 Stamford Baffles' specimens were there ; also the first collections 

 that were sent home from Borneo by Mr. Brooke ; the types 

 of many of the species figured by Mr. Eraser in the ' Zoologia 

 Typica ;' some of those described in the voyage of the Beagle, 

 as well as others of much ornithological interest. 



Mr. Swainson's collection, also quoted, is now at Cambridge. 

 It was purchased entire by the University before Mr. Swainson 

 left this country for New Zealand, and can now be consulted. 



The list of authors quoted from, with the abbreviations used, 

 has been appended ; it is essential for the reading of the volume, 

 and will at the same time give an idea of the extent of research 

 employed by Mr. Strickland. 



A work entirely of reference, such as Synonymy, more expen- 

 sive also to print than one of an ordinary character, would not 

 clear the cost of publication. In these circumstances, the British 

 Association again came forward to lend its support, and thus 

 marked its sense of the importance of the subject to zoological 

 science, as well as its confidence in the ability and perseverance of 

 Mr. Strickland. At the meeting in Liverpool (1854) a grant 



