PREFACE, 



The reception of the previous series justifies the continuation 

 of a work which provides accurate coloured figures of all but 

 the very rare birds ; the ornithological draughtsmanship of 

 Archibald Thorburn, by whom most of the pictures were drawn, 

 speaks for itself. In a book of this size it is not possible to 

 figure a sufficient number of eggs to represent the great range 

 of variation, but a type of egg of most birds which nest in 

 Britain has been included, drawn to average size ; in the 

 present series white or very light self coloured eggs have been 

 omitted, size being stated in the text. To figure all variations 

 of eggs of certain species would fill every plate and still the 

 range would be incomplete ; the book is not intended solely for 

 the egg collector. 



All birds on the British list are dealt with in this and the 

 previous series, but more space has intentionally been devoted 

 to those which are likely to be met with than to rare stragglers 

 and lost wanderers whose accidental occurrence on our shores 

 entitles them to a place as birds which have occurred in Britain 

 rather than as British birds. The list of reputed species might 

 be swelled by the inclusion of many erroneous records ; it is far 

 too long as it is. 



Classification and nomenclature are, in the main, as in the 

 B.O,U. List of 191 5, but after consideration the Committee 



