[^^«-7- "c^V 



r.VRVs. 4. o cv o. 



to XIII, which contain, in the Notes on Individual 

 Species, the original observations in abstract of well 

 known ornithologists, prefaced by a few general remark.^ 

 in which general principles are sought to be brought out, 

 the results of the Individual Notes, etc., being summarised 

 for each topic, in one of the 20 Keys, which will be 

 found at the end of each Chapter and in the Appendix 

 and which can also be obtained bound complete as a separate 

 set of notes or chart for reference in the field. Cross referen- 

 ces are given from the paragraphs in the text to the Keys 

 and vice versa. 



The species are dealt with in the same order 

 throughout, and the index of contents has been made as 

 full as possible. It should not therefore, it is hoped, 

 be difficult to find one's way about the book. 



5. The attempt is made to seize and fix, by means of The " Key 

 simple tables ("Keys") and the use of non-technical lau- system 

 guage, some of the broadest of the general characteristics 

 of the common species that would be met with on a 

 large sheet of water ichere the birds come to the gim. 



All generalisations are dangerous and it is easy to 

 press any or all too far. x\ll that can be hoped for, or 

 expected, is some rough guide to the usual, the normal 

 and the average throughout, and, if observalion is 

 stimulated by the detection of omissions or over- 

 generalisations, something at least will have been 

 gained. The system of similar simple Keys for the use 

 of ordinary people was first adopted, it is believed, by 

 Mr. D. Dewar in his " Indian Birds, '' a book that must 

 have earned him the gratitude of many a mild seeker 

 after bird-knowledge. All the information for each 

 species cannot be given in every Key (see the blank in 

 Key 18, "Distinctive Notes or Cries"') for the reason 

 that the necessary observations have not been completed 

 it is believed, even by the highest authorities. 



G. Now for a practical illustration of how it is iuten- g^^ ^^ ^^^ 

 ded the Keys may be used. You are safely installed in the Key. 

 your butt, and you see a flock of ten or so tubby little 

 Duck coming in at you, flying low en masse with fast-whir- 

 ring wings, very clear in their minds as to the point they 

 are making for. You get a general impression of dark- 

 bodied birds with a big patch of white about the middle 

 below and with conspicuous white in their wings. 

 They get to within about the regulation forty yards 

 of you, and then a slight movement on your part, or, 

 may be, the colour of your topi, gives you away 

 and the whole dock wheels, giving you a com[)lete 

 under-view as you fire. You see clearly now that the 



