PREFACE. v 



country. Nor do I consider that this praise is exaggerated, for 

 while the descriptions of the habits of birds in Dresser's " Birds 

 of Europe " and other popular works are obviously compiled 

 from the writings of serious field-naturalists like Naumann 

 and Macgillivray, those of Mr. Seebohm are based upon his 

 personal observation, and are the result of his many ornitho- 

 logical expeditions in widely distant parts of the Palosarctic 

 Region. The specimens collected by him during his travels, 

 the nests and eggs which he gathered — in some instances still 

 the only ones in any museum — and the notes which he made 

 on the habits of so many European birds, furnished him with 

 original material which has not been exceeded by any writer 

 of the present day. I have, therefore, not scrupled to draw 

 upon Mr. Seebohm's published writings during the preparation 

 of the present work, for I have found his " History of British 

 Birds " and Mr. Saunders' " Manual " both indispensable to me 

 in my attempt to give a condensed idea of the Avi-fauna of the 

 British Islands. Mr. Harting's " Handbook " and Colonel 

 Irby's useful " Key-list " of British Birds have both been 

 frequently consulted by me. 



I have written the present work in the form of a " Hand- 

 book," as the most convenient form for the student of British 

 Birds, and I can assure him that there is much useful work 

 still to be done with regard to our native birds, in various 

 directions, some of which I may particularise as follows : — 



i. The study of the moulting of birds, the way in which the 

 young gain the plumage of the adult, and the method of change 

 from summer to winter plumage, &c. 



2. A record of the distribution of birds throughout the 

 British Islands. This is a very important subject, and one 

 which offers a fertile field of observation to any enthusiastic 

 young ornithologist. A model can be found in Fatio and 

 Studer's " Catalogue des Oiseaux de la Suisse " ; and so many 



