PREFACE. 



It is" due to myself as well as the public, that I should say 

 the great delay in the publishing of this volume has been from 

 causes beyond my personal responsibility. I have regretted it 

 on account of some misapprehensions that have arisen, but it 

 is said that "All is well which ends well," and half of the 

 quotation is assuredly true in this case, for this ends it. 



The magnitude of the task so zealously conceived and under- 

 taken, was greatly understimated, yet the earnest employment 

 of all of my opportunities enabled me- to approximate my 

 ideal for a time, when an interruption of several years occur- 

 red, after which it became impossible to maintain more than is 

 shown by the completed work. 



The classification is that established by the American Orni- 

 thological Union, and published in 1886. Each species given 

 has its corresponding number, and except in occasional in- 

 stances, the descriptions mostly correspond with those given 

 in the Pacific Railroad Reports, and the measurements are in 

 inches and hundredths of an inch. 



While I have aimed to make it as nearly correct in its state- 

 ments of facts observed as is possible, I do not flatter myself 

 that errors have not found their way into this record through 

 so many years of observations, which others may ultimately 

 correct. P. L. HATCH. 



August 16, 1892. 



