PREFACE. 



Nearly twenty years have elapsed since my folio work 

 on the Birds of Australia was completed. During that 

 period many new species have been discovered, and much 

 additional information acquired respecting those com- 

 prised therein ; consequently it appeared to me that a 

 careful resume of the entire subject would be acceptable 

 to the possessors of the former edition, as well as to the 

 many persons in Australia who are now turning their 

 attention to the ornithology of the country in which 

 they are resident. Indeed I have been assured that 

 such a work is greatly needed to enable the explorer 

 during his journeyings, or the student in his quiet home, 

 to identify the species that may come under his notice, 

 and as a means by which the curators of the museums 

 now established in the various colonies may arrange 

 and name the collections intrusted to their charge. With 

 these views the present Handbook has been prepared. 



