PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION. 



Itisnow nearly tweiily years since the fii'st edition of this little 

 book appeared, the result of several years' diligent field work 

 in and around Amherst. Owing to a considerable local inter- 

 est in birds, the edition was soon exhausted and for many 

 years now the work has been out of print. As there has been 

 a number of calls for copies, which could not be supplied, a 

 second edition has seemed worth while, although the author is 

 no longer a resident of Amherst, "and has done no field work 

 there foi* many years. In preparing this new edition it has 

 seemed desirable to make some radical changes in the arrange- 

 ment of the species, and the old division into three groups, 

 *•' regular," " irregular," and " extremely rare," which really 

 served no useful purpose, has been discarded. The "• artificial 

 key " has also been rearranged to conform to those now so 

 commonly used for both flowers and animals, particularly those 

 in Chapman's "Handbook of the Birds of Eastern North 

 America." The names used are also those of that very useful 

 " Handbook," to which the more advanced student will fre- 

 quently wish to refer. One new feature, which it is hoped will 

 prove a really useful addition, is the " field key," but it must 

 be remembered that identifications made by any such easy 

 method are not to be relied on unless the observations are 

 made with good field glasses, under favorable conditions, and 

 are confirmed by reference to a full description, such as those 

 given in Coues' " Key to North American Birds." Although 

 considerable field work was done by the author in the years 

 1887-92, and since then by others interested, only three new 



