Vlll PREFACE. 



those who have visited the remote homes of the birds, at points often 

 far apart and not easy of access, and to use their observations, pub- 

 lished or otherwise, when they tend to throw light on the history 

 of the birds observed in Ontario. 



Of the works I have found most useful in this connection, I 

 have pleasure in mentioning Mr. Ernest E. Thompson's " Birds of 

 Manitoba," published by the Smithsonian Institute at Washington. 

 In it the author records his ornithological notes made dui'ing a three 

 years' residence in Manitoba, as well as the numerous obsei-vations 

 by others of similar tastes in different parts of the Province with 

 whom he was in correspondence. 



Mr. E. W. Nelson, an officer of the United States Signal Service, 

 has furnished the material for a work on the birds of an entirely 

 new field, and has greatly extended our knowledge of many species 

 which are common at different points as migrants. The work is a 

 history of the collection of birds made by the author in Alaska 

 during the years 1877 to 1881. It is edited by Mr. W. H. Henshaw, 

 and handsomely illustrated. Issued by the Signal Service at Wash- 

 ington, it has been liberally distributed among the lovers of birds. 



The ornithological work which has attracted the greatest amount 

 of attention lately is entitled, " The Hawks and Owls of the United 

 States in their Relation to Agriculture," prepared under the direction 

 of Dr. C. Hart Merriam, Ornithologist, by Dr. A. K. Fisher, Assist- 

 ant. This is a book of two hundred pages, enriched with colored 

 illustrations of most of the birds it describes. 



I have also found much that is interesting in the " Life Histories 

 of North American Birds, with special reference to their Breeding 

 Habits and Eggs," by Captain Charles Bendire, United States Army 

 (retired). This work, which has now reached four hundred pages, is 

 still in progress, and promises to be the most useful work we have 

 on the subjects of which it treats. 



To Mr. Oliver Davie I am greatly indebted for the j^rivilege of 

 using the information contained in his " Nests and Eggs of North 

 American Birds," without which my record in that depai'tment would 

 have been incomplete. 



With regard to the distribution of the birds, I have found a great 

 deal of information in a "Catalogue of Canadian Birds," with notes 

 on the distribution of species by Montague Chamberlain. 



In the Aiinual Reports of the Ornithological Sub-section of the 

 Canadian Institute are many interesting notices of rare birds found 

 near Toronto and elsewhere throughout the country. 



