30 British Birds, 



of our English ornithologists. Our summer visitants 

 have been seen and recognised in their South African 

 winter resorts by English travellers." That is quite 

 true, but it is not much more to our special object and 

 purpose — which is mainly limited to British-breeding 

 birds — than a detailed notice of the differences and 

 vagaries of opinion as to the purely scientific matters 

 of Structure and System to which reference has been 

 made in the nearly preceding paragraphs. Our 

 business certainly lies with the birds which build 

 nests and lay their eggs in England — at least in 

 Britain — and more especially with those which are 

 most commonly met with. 



But from time to time the nest and eggs of a bird 

 that breeds but rarely among us are met with, and 

 some notice of such bird is called for ; as also of the 

 helps and facilities which are afforded, in other books, 

 towards the identification of such birds, and their 

 allocation among the order, or group, or family they 

 belong to. 



With this view, I append here a sketch of the 

 systematic arrangement adopted in the last edition of 

 Yarrell's " British Birds " ; and to the subsequent 

 letterpress will be added notices of some of the 

 members of the several groups therein specified, or 

 such additional nesting notes as may seem to have 

 either some approach to novelty, or else some attrac- 

 tiveness or helpfulness for the juvenile nest-hunter 

 and collector of eggs ; who, though not a scientific 

 ornithologist at present, may easily be a real lover of 

 birds and their ways and belongings now, and grow 

 up in increasing regard and admiration both for 



