INTRODUCTION. 



CINCE early boyhood it has been a hope on the part of the 

 author to some day write a book relating to the life histo- 

 ries of the birds of his native State, Maine. For years data 

 regarding the nesting and food of our native birds has been 

 gathered with this object in view. The List of Birds of Maine 

 published some years ago served as a beginning by bringing 

 out much information regarding bird distribution in the State, 

 and now the time is at hand when a more complete work is 

 ready for publication. 



The plan of the work is arranged along the lines hereafter 

 described. The American Ornithologists' Union Check-List 

 and the Supplements thereto have been the base used for the 

 numbers and scientific nomenclature. In addition to the com- 

 mon name of each species, as given in the A. O. U. List, an 

 effort has been made to give as many as possible, of the local 

 names by which each may be known. 



Analytical keys to the various orders and species have been 

 given, and under each species the various plumages are described 

 in a few words and measurements given. The descriptions and 

 keys are in no sense to be understood as the result of original 

 study, but are compiled from the various descriptions given in 

 Ridgway's Manual of North American Birds, Ridgway's Birds 

 of North and Middle America, Chapman's Handbook of Birds 

 of Eastern North America, Dwight's Sequence of the Plumages 

 and Moults of the Passerine Birds of New York and other 

 standard works, effort being made to change the language of 

 descriptions taken from these works and retain the meaning in 

 fewer words. 



Following the description of plumage under each species is 

 given a brief summary of the geographical distribution, 



