PREFACE. vi 
of Nature. When this shall have been done, 
then there will be no more mention made of 
owls erecting the feathery tufts on their heads 
in the moment of surprise ; nor of young birds 
(no matter of what species) being able to fly at 
six days old. Numberless glaring faults will 
then be corrected, and the naturalist will expe- 
rience real pleasure when he opens books which 
treat of ornithology. 
I have carefully omitted the harsh names 
which have been given to our British birds: let 
those make use of them who attach importance 
to them; I can make nothing of them. 
Some of our birds, quadrupeds, and insects, 
have hitherto been described as particularly in- 
jurious to the interests of agriculture ; others, as 
insatiate destroyers of fowls destined for our fes- 
tive board; whilst others, again, are considered 
by the lower orders as agents, somehow or other, 
connected with witches, or with wisemen, as 
they are called in Yorkshire, who know of 
things lost, and of deeds done in the dark, and 
of places where pretty milkmaids may find de- 
serving swains, ready and willing to become 
A 4 
