INTRODUCTION. XXi 
justice it demands some of the skill of the poet, as well as the accuracy of 
the man of science. No picture of the life of a bird is complete without 
some particulars of the scenes it frequents, which are in fact the frame in 
which it is set. No one can be more conscious than I am how much I 
have failed to reach the high standard at which I have aimed. I have 
endeavoured as much as possible to write from notes made on the spot, by 
which I have hoped to secure some of the freshness which is frequently 
lost in memoranda written long afterwards; and I have tried to retain 
something of the charm of local colouring which mere generalizations 
seldom possess. I have tried to make the matter as original as possible, 
aud only to resort to paste and scissors when absolutely necessary ; and where 
I have been obliged to fall back upon the observations of others I have 
sought to obtain unpublished accounts wherever possible. 1 have secured 
the services of Mr. Charles Dixon, the author of ‘Rural Bird Life,’ 
whose intimate knowledge of the everyday life of many of our familiar 
birds has been of great value to me, and whose observations will be found 
to be specially interesting to field-naturalists, for whom this work is 
specially written. My thanks are also due to many correspondents who 
have furnished me with information, which will be found properly acknow- 
ledged in the body of the work from time to time. 
In conclusion, I beg to commend my book to all lovers of birds. If I 
have criticised the work of any of my fellow ornithologists too severely, 
I ask their pardon, and hope that they will pay me back in my own coin, by 
correcting my blunders with an unsparing hand. The object of all true 
scientific work is the elimination of error and the attainment of truth. 
