iV Preface. 
this volume has already seen the light in the form 
of papers contributed to the Hield, with other 
journals that treat of Natural History; and to the 
monthly magazines :—Longmans’, The Nineteenth 
Century, The Gentleman’s Magazine, and others : I 
am indebted to the Editors and Proprietors of these 
periodicals for kindly allowing me to make use of 
this material. 
Of all animals, birds have perhaps afforded me 
most pleasure ; but most of the fresh knowledge f 
have collected in this department is contained in a 
larger work (Argentine Ornithology), of which Dr. 
P. L. Sclater is part author. As I have not gone 
over any of the subjects dealt with in that work, 
bird-life has not received more than a fair share of 
attention in the present volume. 
Lonpon, 1891. 
