INTRODUCTION 



This work on the Life Histories of North American Birds is based largely 

 up(ni the collections in the U. S. National Museum. It was the wish of the late 

 l*rof. Spencer F. Baird that a comprehensiA'e work on this subject should be 

 published, bringing- together the great advances in our knowledge made during 

 the past few years. This wish was also shared by Prof Langley and Dr. Goode, 

 and witli their concurrence the present work has been written. 



Since the publication by the Smithsonian Institution in 1857 of an initial 

 volume on North American Oology, hj the late Dr. T. M. Brewer — which work 

 was not finished owing to lack of material — niid of Baird, Brewer and RidgAvay's 

 "History of North American Birds" in 1874, no systematic and comprehensive 

 work on the oology of this country has appeared. Large collections have been 

 bniught together during the last three decades, and great advances, only rendered 

 possible by the more general intei'est that the subject has attracted, have been 

 made. 



It is not intended that this work shall consist merely of descriptions ol nests 

 and eggs. Special attention has been given to the life history, the migratory 

 and breeding ranges, and food of each species. In this connection the latest 

 information, including the field notes made by myself and others and hitherto 

 unpublished, has been freely used. 



Although involving considerably more labor and a certain amount of repeti- 

 tion, I treat each species and subspecies separately, and endeavor to define the 

 "breeding range" of each as accurately as possible. This method is to some 

 extent open to criticism, and especially so where a species is divided into sevei'al 

 geographical races between the l)oundaries of Avhose ranges a neutral zone exists 

 in which they intergrade. On account of the limited knowledge we possess of 

 many of our bu-ds, I am well aware that the infonnation given under this head is 

 more or less imperfect, l)ut this is irremediable in many instances at present. 



The present volume relates only to land biixls. The classification given iu 

 the Code and Check List of the American Ornithologists' Union has been followed, 

 and the sjTiouymy and nomenclature used in this list have also been adopted, 

 with the emendations that have been iiuule up to date. 



