vi PREFACE. 
interest of the work,— hoping tnereoy to excite in 
some a degree of love for a study, which they will 
find to be at once entertaining and instructive, as 
well as conducive to the health of body and mind. 
We have confined our descriptions chiefly to the 
Birds of the United States, but in a few instances 
have introduced others for the purpose of better illus- 
trating the subject, or increasing our information re- 
specting the peculiarities of any tribe. 
It is proper to observe that, while many of the 
cuts in the following pages are original, others are 
after Audubon. 
