INTRODUCTION. 



Observations on the range and habits of our birds is the kind of 

 information that we look for from residents in the country, and are 

 most desirous of encouraging. But, for the guidance of those who 

 may be anxious to go a step further and describe for themselves any 

 new form that may be discovered, I beg to offer the following hints 

 and suggestions : — 



It is comparatively easy to describe a bird for all practical pur- 

 poses, that is to say, with sufficient definiteness to entitle the descrip- 

 tion to general respect, and to establish the author's claim to the 

 right of priority in naming the species. The first thing to be done 

 is to take the measurements, and in expressing these the formula of 

 inches and decimal fractions will be found the most convenient. The 

 following are those which are usually considered sufficient : The 

 extreme length ; the full extent of the expanded wings ; the wing 

 from the carpal flexure to the end of the longest primary ; the tail, 

 from the root to the end of the longest feathers ; the culmen, mea- 

 suring from the base of the mandible to the tip, following the curva- 

 ture, if any ; the lower mandible from the gape to the tip ; the tibia, 

 if bare ; the tarsus ; the middle toe and claw ; the hind toe and claw. 



In taking the extreme length, my rule has always been to mea- 

 sure from the tij) of the bill, following its curvature, if any, to the 

 end of the tail. The advantage of this plan is that by deducting the 

 measurements of the culmen and the tail, which are given separately, 

 you obtain the exact length of the body. This is only useful, how- 

 ever, for purposes of comparison, because the measurements of a bird 



