INTRODUCTION. 



WITH those who take any interest in Natural History, 

 it is as natural to inquire the country and the name 

 of an unknown animal, as to put the same questions 

 regarding a foreigner, whose features and garb 

 differ from our own. In either case, the name to 

 ordinary persons, even when heard, conveys no 

 ideas associating with those he already has ; it re- 

 mains a fact, indeed, but " bare and barren." The 

 locality, however, or place of residence of the 

 stranger, brings with it some degree of interest, 

 either with things we know of or have pictured to 

 ourselves. We feel as if we could recognize the 

 bird if we saw it again, and we connect it in some 

 way with the general ideas we have formed of that 

 country of which it is a native. 



It is known to every intelligent reader, that the 

 five great divisions of our globe are peopled re- 

 spectively by the five leading varieties of the human 

 species; and that each of these, again, present us 

 with numerous variations of a secondary character, 



