VOL. IX. BIRDS 



By A. H. EVANS, M.A., Clare College, Cambridge. 



EXTRACT FROM THE PREFACE 



In this volume of the " Cambridge Natural History " the 

 author has attempted to meet a need which he believes to be 

 somewhat widely felt. Recognising the fact that there is at the 

 present time an abundance of popular, or only slightly scientific, 

 works on Birds, some of which touch but superficially upon the 

 individual species composing the various groups, as regards their 

 plumage or habits, while others pay little or no attention to 

 correctness of Classification, he has essayed the difficult and 

 apparently unattempted task of including in some six hundred 

 pages a short description of the majority of the forms in many of 

 the Families, and of the most typical or important of the innumer- 

 able species included in the large Passerine Order. Prefixed to 

 each group is a brief summary of the Structure and Habits ; a few 

 further particulars of the same nature being subsequently added 

 when necessary, with a statement of the main Fossil forms as yet 

 recorded. 



IB/S. — " Mr. Evans has produced a book full of concentrated essence of information on 

 birds, especially as regards their outer structure and habits, and one that we can cordially 

 recommend as a work of reference to all students of ornithology." 



NA TURE NO TES. — ' ' We venture to predict that, of the ten volumes of which this 

 excellent series is planned to consist, none will secure a wider popularity than Mr. Evans's 

 treatise on birds. Strange as it may appear, among the many books on birds that have 

 appeared of late years, we do not recall any that covers the same ground. . . . We are 

 grateful to the author for the mine of valuable information which he has crowded between 

 his two covers." 



SCIENCE GOSSIP. — " General readers will find this work most useful in obtaining a 

 proper understanding of birds, and will be assisted by the effective diagram of a hawk in the 

 introduction, showing the recognised names of every part of the exterior appearance. The 

 expressions used in naming the various portions are fully explained on the adjoining page. 

 As we have already said, the illustrations are admirable. The book is a useful addition to 

 any library, as it treats of nearly every known kind of bird throughout the world." 



SATURDAY REVIEW.—" The expert and the novice alike must be at once 

 delighted by the accuracy and the beauty of the illustrations. ... It is astonishing to note 

 the mass of information the author has been able to liring together. . . . With a little 

 practice any observant person would soon learn by the help of this volume to track down 

 any bird very nearly to its ultimate place in classification." 



