EDITOR'S PREFACE. 



Although several publications on the subject of 

 which this volume treats have appeared, no complete 

 and satisfactory exposition of the Bird-life of New 

 England has yet been given to the public. It is now 

 many years since Mr. E. A. Samuels' work appeared ; 

 and that treatise, however well answering former re- 

 quirements of the case, would scarcely be considered 

 to reflect the extent of our present knowledge. Mr. 

 H. D. Minot's later work, which, by the way, is a 

 better one, as far as it goes, than some of his critics 

 seem disposed to admit, treated only the Land and 

 Game Birds of New England, thus leaving untouched 

 no small portion of the subject. In 1868, the present 

 writer published " A List of the Birds of New Eng- 

 land ; "' and, in 1875, '^ paper of similar plan and scope 

 was issued by Dr. T. M. Brewer, with the obvious in- 

 tention of correcting the presumed or alleged errors of 

 the "List" of 1868. It is proper to add, however, that 

 the last-named author found it necessary to speedily put 



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