viii TO THE READER 



trustworthy and well-drawn set of birds to be found in any 

 publication issued in this country, and the very cheapest of 

 Japanese work should make these so-called " artists " blush 

 to their nail-quicks. And so there is still an opportunit}^ 

 for some wealthy amateur to publish such a set of plates, 

 painted in the first instance by a master, and reproduced by 

 some delicate process of lithography such as one under- 

 stands Mr. Whistler is developing. 



What happens at present is that the birds are set up more 

 or less successfully by persons who are not artists, and these 

 stuffed creatures are copied by mediocre draughtsmen, and 

 hence our modern chromo-lithographs and niggling false 

 woodcuts. And in addition, since the beauty of many birds 

 goes with their death, the result is what we know. Kill a 

 kingfisher, and his beauty is dulled, since for well-known 

 scientific reasons, his colours cannot be the same after death. 

 Again, the appearance of birds must differ according to 

 enveloping atmospheric effects. I have seen a swan appear 

 yellow under certain conditions. It is obvious, then, that 

 their colours must appear variable, and therefore " nothing is 

 constant but change " in their colouring. Let us, neverthe- 

 less, hope that some day some wealthy amateur will have a 

 series of genuine artistic illustrations done by a master. Till 

 such day we must content ourselves with stuffed specimens 

 and photographs — photographs which, though in some re- 

 spects unsatisfactory, in others are accurate enough, as giving 

 more or less correct (according to the lens employed) maps 

 of the birds' nests and eggs. 



In my journeyings to and fro, I am often asked what 

 books would be most useful to the young ornithologist ; and 

 as this little book may fall into the hands of other such 

 inquirers, I cite a few. For a general book of reference, 

 the young student will find Mr. Saunders' Manual of 

 British Birds the best, though "cataloguy" and far from 

 lucid, illustrations and remarks on colour excepted ; for 

 only an artist can approximately describe colour, and he 



