PREFACE. 



The gradual formation of this collection, which I trust may not here- 

 after be dispersed, has been the occupation of the hmited leisure of 45 

 years. The few specimens of my schoolboy days, gathered under the 

 auspices of William Proctor, the sub-curator of Durham Museum, have 

 disappeared. 



My present collection dates from 1844 — with specimens obtained in 

 Switzerland and North Italy. But, like most ornithologists, I began with 

 the attempt to collect the birds of my own country. Then a three years' 

 residence in Bermuda, and a visit to North America, led me to add the 

 birds of the Nearctic region. Circumstances afterwards afforded me special 

 opportunities for personally investigating during several years the natural 

 history of the Mediterranean, of the North African littoral, the Great 

 Sahara ; and subsequently, more especially that of Palestine and Syria. 



For the last 20 years I have more particularly directed my attention 

 to the fauna of Oceanic Islands — above all, those of the Pacific and Indian 

 Oceans. In this research I have derived much assistance from the 

 kindness of Naval Officers, Missionaries and Consuls, and the collection 

 thus amassed has been most valuable in the study of the modification 



