PREFACE, 



HAVING for many years taken considerable interest in Birds, more 

 particularly Water Birds, and having collected some of the kinds 

 in their various states of plumage at the different seasons, I have 

 sometimes made notes respecting them. From such these scraps 

 have been compiled, and I venture to hope they may afford 

 amusement, if not some trifling instruction, to those who may 

 have the opportunity to see them. 



An apology seems due for my venturing to write on what is 

 perhaps usually considered a thread-bare subject, and especially 

 for putting these scraps into their present form, but the lover of 

 Nature seems never to become tired of reading another's ideas, 

 who has devoted some of his attention to her works ; and really, 

 when we consider that the more we know we only find out how 

 truly ignorant we are, it gives one some encouragement to try 

 and find out more about them. Whatever number of us there 

 may be interested in such like pursuits, each one will most cer- 

 tainly observe things differently and represent them according to 

 his ideas ; and I would guard all readers against adopting any 

 particular writers' theories or statement of facts or probabilities, 

 so different are men's views, and so will be their manner of re- 

 presenting and describing them. 



No one can expect his work to be without many errors, but I 

 need only add, if the perusal of these miscellaneous writings 

 (which I fear contain many repetitions) give any one a slight 

 stimulus in the direction of following a most interesting study 



