INTRODUCTION 
ORNITHOLOGY in its proper sense is the methodical study and consequent 
knowledge of Birds with all that relates to them ; but the difficulty of 
assigning a limit to the commencement of such study and knowledge gives 
the word a very vague meaning, and practically procures its application 
to much that does not enter the domain of Science. This elastic applica- 
tion renders it impossible in any sketch of the history of Ornithology to 
draw a sharp distinction between works that are emphatically ornitho- 
logical and those to which that title can only be attached by courtesy ; 
for, since Birds have always attracted far greater attention than any other 
group of animals with which in number or in importance they can be 
compared, there has grown up concerning them a literature of corre- 
sponding magnitude and of the widest range, extending from the recondite 
and laborious investigations of the morphologist and anatomist to the 
casual observations of the sportsman or the schoolboy. The chief cause 
of the disproportionate amount of attention which Birds have received 
plainly arises from the way in which so many of them familiarly present 
themselves to us, or even (it may be said) force themselves upon our 
notice. Trusting to the freedom from danger conferred by the power of 
flight, most Birds have no need to lurk hidden in dens, or to slink from 
place to place under shelter of the inequalities of the ground or of the 
vegetation which clothes it, as is the case with so many other animals of 
similar size. Beside this, a great number of the Birds which thus display 
themselves freely to our gaze are conspicuous for the beauty of their 
plumage ; and there are very few that are not remarkable for the grace of 
their form. Some Birds again enchant us with their voice, and others 
administer to our luxuries and wants, while there is scarcely a species 
which has not idiosyncrasies that are found to be of engaging interest the 
more we know of them. Moreover, it is clear that the art of the fowler 
is one that must have been practised from the very earliest times, and to 
follow that art with success no inconsiderable amount of acquaintance 
with the haunts and habits of Birds is a necessity. Owing to one or 
another of these causes, or to the combination of more than one, it is not 
surprising that the observation of Birds has been from a very remote 
period a favourite pursuit among nearly all nations, and this observation 
has by degrees led to a study more or less framed on methodical principles, 
finally reaching the dignity of a science, and a study that has its votaries 
