IV 

 HISTORY OF BRITISH BIRDS 



ALTHOUGH comprising but a small portion, com- 

 paratively, of his many-sided labours, there can 

 be no doubt that the work by which the name 

 of Francis Orpen Morris was mainly made known 

 to the world was the " History of British Birds." 

 Until this work made its appearance the author's 

 name had been but little heard of. It is a book that 

 has had a wide circulation among all classes, and 

 has contributed in no small measure to the greater 

 interest that is now taken in ornithology generally, 

 so that it will not be unfitting if some allusions are 

 here made to it. 



The treatise was first taken in hand when the 

 author was at Nafferton. It would have been im- 

 possible for him, with his limited means, to have 

 undertaken a work of this kind on his own respon- 

 sibility. Living at that time in the small market 

 town of Driffield, hard by, was a man of remarkable 

 enterprise. Benjamin Fawcett, who had a great 

 capacity for work and business, and was in fact, 

 in his way, a genius, started for himself in Drifneld 

 in 1830 as a bookseller and printer. He was a 

 man of great independence of character, and 



