PREFACE. 



In the following pages will be found first, a brief description of Essex 

 County with a general view of its geology, flora, and faunal areas ; then follow 

 chapters on the regions and their birds, peculiar to a maritime county, namely, 

 the ocean, the sand beaches, the sand dunes, and the salt marshes. There are 

 also chapters on the fresh marshes and on the ponds and their birds. These 

 are followed by chapters on the records from lighthouses along the coast and 

 on the ornithological history of Essex County. 



In the introduction to the Annotated List, the names of many ornitho- 

 logical workers are given who have generously contributed their notes and 

 observations, and to all of these I wish here to express my sincere thanks. 

 Particularly I wish to thank Mr. William Brewster for the use of his collection 

 and for the identification of doubtful specimens ; Mr. Walter Deane for many 

 kindnesses and for reviewing the botanical part of this list ; Mr. W. A. Jeffries 

 for his own notes and those of his brother, the late Dr. J. A. Jeffries ; Mr. J. A. 

 Farley for many valuable records, especially as regards the breeding of birds of 

 prey; Dr. J. C. Phillips for his records from Wenham Lake; Mr. John Rob- 

 inson and Mr. John H. Sears for their kindness to me in the use of the col- 

 lection of the Peabody Academy, at Salem ; Mr. Ralph Hoffmann for much 

 kindly help and criticism, and Dr. Glover M. Allen for his great assistance in 

 revising manuscript and proof. I am also indebted to him for the map. 



I have attempted to make the Annotated List as complete and accurate as 

 possible, and have banished to a doubtful list all birds about which there is the 

 least question. In the case of most of the water . birds the annotations are 

 given fully from my own observations not only as to the habits of the birds but 

 also as to their call notes and their recognition in the field, as these birds are 

 so characteristic of a seashore region, and are so often slightly treated in the 

 books. Of the land birds, a few only of the characteristic and interesting ones 

 are treated at any length, such as the Horned Lark, American Crow, Snow 

 Bunting, Lapland Longspur, Ipswich Sparrow, Sharp-tailed Sparrows, the Swal- 

 lows, and a few others. A Bibliography is given at the end of the memoir. 



Boston, 



November, 1904. 



