24 PROCEEDINGS MANCHESTER INSTITUTE 



birds of the State is given so far as possible, faunally, the limits 

 of the faunal areas being elsewhere defined. Extralimital mi- 

 gration dates are given in parentheses. Care has been taken to 

 exclude from the list all doubtful records, or those resting on an 

 unsubstantial basis, hence the frequency of the words " taken " 

 or " captured " in connection with many of the records. A re- 

 cent writer has deplored the killing of rare or uncommon birds 

 in order to establish positively a " record" and, indeed, it is to 

 be regretted that such a necessity exists. Accuracy, however, 

 demands that the young ornithologist or the beginner shall sub- 

 stantiate in some acceptable wa}^ his often hasty identification 

 based on a passing glimpse of a bird with which he is perhaps 

 quite unfamiliar. To merely record one's belief that a certain 

 rare species was observed is in most cases of no value whatsoever 

 and should be more carefully guarded against than is at present 

 done. The trained naturalist, who appreciates at what pains 

 facts are determined, is content to leave unrecorded that of which 

 he is in doubt. Of much greater value is it to establish one new 

 fact in the life history of a common bird, than to record the ac- 

 cidental presence of a species far from its normal range. 



It remains. to express my thanks to all who have contributed 

 to the present undertaking, and especially to Mr. William Brew- 

 ster of Cambridge, Mass., who has generously contributed a num- 

 ber of observations on water birds ; Dr. Walter Faxon of Cam- 

 bridge, Mass.; Mr. W. E. Cram of Hampton Falls; Mr. G. H. 

 Thayer of Monadnock ; Mr. C. F. Goodhue of Webster ; Mr. V. 

 D. Lowe of Randolph ; Mr. W. M. Buswellof Charlestown ; Dr. 

 W. H. Fox of Washington, D.C-; Mr.F. H. Allen of West Rox- 

 bury, Mass.; Mr. Ralph Hoffmann of Belmont, Mass.; Mr. R. H. 

 Howe, Jr., of Brookline, Mass.; Mr. H. W. Wright of Boston, 

 Mass., for their generosity in supplying many valuable notes from 

 their observations in various parts of New Hampshire. 



