Vill ' PREFACE. 
of a species; others I trust may be found to possess a 
fuller interest. 
I have carefully revised the original papers, and have 
added much additional information, the result of later 
observations. The introductory chapter on the forest 
will, I hope, give my readers some idea of the district 
in which my labours have been carried on. 
One word with regard to an objection which has been 
made to local histories. It is not pretended that the 
Birds of Sherwood Forest are peculiar to that district, but 
local naturalists are confined to local boundaries, though 
it is obvious that these must often be arbitrary, or even 
imaginary ; yet it is only by close and continuous local 
observation that the presence of a species in a particular 
district is detected, and its range determined, and thus 
our knowledge of the birds of the whole country is 
made more complete. I wish every county had its 
ornithological biographer, for we should thus not only 
become better acquainted with the habits and manners 
of our feathered neighbours, but much light would be 
thrown on a point which is confessedly obscure—viz., 
their local and general migrations, and the causes by 
which they are influenced. 
I cannot conclude without expressing my obligations 
