PREFACE. vii 



standard ornithological works, especially D. Appleton & Co., Dana Estes 

 & Co., Little Brown & Co., Houghton, Mifflin & Co., and a few others, 

 credit being given for each illustration as used. Special mention should 

 be made of Plate I (Frontispiece), the Topography of a Bird, from Ridg- 

 way's Nomenclature of Colors (1886), by special permission of the author, 

 and of Plate 70, the Hermit Thrush, presented by the artist, Mr. W. F. 

 Jackson, of ]\Iayfield, Michigan. 



I am under special obligation to Dr. Robert Ridgway and Dr. C. W. 

 Richmond of the U. S. National Museum, and to Dr. C. Hart Merriam, 

 Dr. A. K. Fisher, Dr. T. S. Palmer, H. W. Henshaw, and other members 

 of the Bureau of Biological Survey of the U. S. Department of Agri- 

 culture, for the examination of specimens, the verification of references, 

 and many critical notes and suggestions. In addition, the Biological 

 Survey kindly allowed the use of all its migration schedules from Mich- 

 igan observers, together with the reports of lighthouse keepers at all Mich- 

 igan lights. 



The artificial ke^'s, already alluded to, are mainh' original, at least 

 in their present form, but in constructing them use has been made of 

 similar keys in various publications, particularly Ridgway's Manual, 

 Coues' Ke}', and Chapman's Handbook. The technical clescriptions also 

 are original for the most part, having been written with specimens in 

 hand, but of course after comparison with the best published descriptions 

 available. In the case of a species not properly represented in our own 

 collections the description given by Ridgway has usually been copied 

 verbatim (between quotation marks), or, in a few instances the original 

 describer has been quoted in the same way. The measurements given 

 in the technical descriptions are usualh* from Ridgway's Manual of North 

 American Birds (1887), and the same is true for the measurements of 

 eggs. Dr. Ridgway's permission to do this is greatfully acknowledged. 



