PEEFACE 



As something like 5,000 species of birds— about half the 

 number known to exist in the habitable globe — are to be 

 found in the dominions of our Queen, it must be obvious 

 that the briefest description of them could not be included 

 within the compass of a small volume like the present one, 

 as its size is necessarily restricted by the limits imposed 

 upon each book in the series of " The Imperial Library." 

 Nevertheless, it is hoped that the present " glance " at a big 

 subject will prove interesting and valuable to many people. 

 The number of persons interested in birds is unquestion- 

 ably enormous ; but the proportion is probably much 

 smaller of those who require an exhaustive treatise carried 

 out with cosmopolitan comprehensiveness ; and, in any 

 case, the expense of such a work would be a bar to a wide 

 sale. 



Later on, if this epitome should secure popular favour, it 

 will be easy to supply the demand for more. 



With regard to the illustrations in this volume, it should 

 be noted that no attempt, for obvious reasons, has been 

 made to furnish them to exact scale — the great object being 

 to give the best available drawings ; but in the letterpress 

 descriptions the size of each bird has been carefully given, 

 and the Index at the end of the volume will enable the 

 reader to immediately find what he may be looking for, 

 and probably all familiar, and many unfamiliar, names will 

 be found, modest though the proportions of the book are. 



Belvedere, Kent, 

 Jannary, 1898. 



