PREFACE AND INTRODUCTION 



In this volume it has been my aim to place before the public, and 

 especially the sporting section of the same, a concise work on 

 British Birds which, while accurate and up to date, should be as 

 free as possible from technicalities and as simple and readable 

 as the circumstances of the case permit. In this aim I have been 

 greatly assisted by my friend Mr. W. P. Pycraft (to whom I am 

 also indebted for reading the proofs), who has drawn up the descrip- 

 tion of each species in such a manner as to admit of its ready 

 identification, while at the same time avoiding all unnecessary details. 

 The wording of these descriptions is, however, in most cases my 

 own work ; and in drawing them up the needs of the field-naturalist 

 have been specially borne in mind. The details concerning the 

 colouring of the young of each species (except in the case of the 

 perching birds) form a special feature of the work. 



The records of the occurrences of rare visitors to the British 

 Isles are also fuller than in any other work ; and in this connection 

 I desire to take the opportunity of expressing my indebtedness 

 to the valuable ornithological journal published by Messrs. Wetherby 

 under the title of British Birds. 



As regards the technical names of the various species, I have in the 

 main adopted those used by my former teacher, the late Professor 

 Alfred Newton of Cambridge, being convinced that the splitting-up 

 of generic groups, now so much the fashion, is a mistake. In this 

 opinion I am following the views of a valued colleague, the late 

 Dr. W. T. Blanford, as expressed in the \-olume on birds in the 

 Fauna of British India. 



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