NTRODUCTION. 



" Whf.uf. thi: Biitus maki; tiikik Nests." 



" Of making many books tliere is no end ; and much study is a 

 weaa-iness of the flesli." But to write a book on any depai-tmont of 

 natural liistory — a portion of the " Bible of Natiu-c "• — is a privilege and 

 a pleasure, " weariness of the flesh " notwithstanding. And what one 

 has to wi-ite in this direction must be written soon, because, as Professor 

 H. N. Moseley has pointed out regarding the study of the fauna and flora 

 of any country, forms are perishing rapidly day by day, and will soon bo, 

 like the dodo or the moa, extinct. " The histoiy of things," he said, 

 "once gone can never be recovered, but must remain for ever a gap in 

 Ihe knowledge of mankind." It is tlir old proverb — "That which is 

 wanting cannot be numbered." 



Since Gould's " Handlwok " to his great work, " Birds of Australia," 

 several lesser aids to Australian ornithology and oology have been issued 

 luider separate covers. These arc, namely : — 



1. Dr. E. P. Ramsay's useful " Tabular- List " of Australian Birds 

 (1877). Second edition (1888). 



2. A Manual by myself on " Nests and Eggs of Australian Birds, " 

 embracing papers on " Oology of Australian Birds " read before the Field 

 Naturalists' Club of "Victoria (1883). 



3. Mr. O. J. Broinowski's " Birds of Australia," in six parts — 

 illustrated (1887-91). 



4. " Catalogue No. 12 " of the Australian Museum ; or " Nests and 

 Eggs of Birds found Breeding in Australia and Tasmania" (1889), by 

 Mr. A. J. North, F.L.S., &c. 



5. And Mr. Robert Hall's up-to-date " Key of the Birds of Australia 

 and Tasmania (1899)" 



My Manual was designed to show how much had to be done before 

 anything like a complete work on such an interesting and important 

 department as " Nests and Eggs " could be attempted. My fixed aim 

 was towards a more complete and permanent work ; and the rcsidt of 

 that self-imposed task I now present to the public. By the light of 



