3 



INTRODUCTION. 



THE illustrations of BEITISH BIRDS' NESTS which have 

 been submitted to me by Mr. Kearton deserve 

 more than a passing acknowledgment. This book 

 certainly marks an era in natural history, just as 

 Gould's " Birds of Great Britain" and Booth's 

 " Eough Notes" did in the past. The method of 

 illustrating works on natural history has undergone 

 as much development, as the illustration of the 

 animals themselves has done in our public museums. 

 The works of the early part of the century were em- 

 bellished with the faithful woodcuts of Bewick, or 

 with coloured pictures of more or less merit. These 

 were succeeded by the writings of Macgillivray, 

 Yarrell, and Hewitson, the former containing the 

 best life histories of our British birds, equalled only 

 by those of the great German naturalist Naumann. 

 The great merit of Macgillivray's work lies in the fact 

 that it is almost entirely original, both as regards 

 the descriptions of structure and plumage, as well 

 as of the habits of the birds. Yarrell was also a 

 great naturalist, and his work was illustrated by the 

 neatest of little woodcuts, which survive unto this 

 day ; but a candid critic must admit that the attitudes 

 of many of the birds are strained and unnatural, 

 and must have been taken from stuffed specimens. 

 Hewitson's illustrations of the eggs of British birds 

 are still, in my humble opinion, the most beautiful 

 of any which have appeared in this country, though 

 the most perfect representations of birds' eggs yet 

 published are those of Captain Bendire, issued by 

 the Smithsonian Institution. 



