I'KHKACK. yJJ 



Iiistorv (if the species, as, in 18r)S, one nf tlie iiutliois of tlie ])reseiit work 

 juililisht'il ;i sysli'inatic iiceuunt <>f tlie liinls of Nnitli Anieriea, loiirstituliiiLj 

 N'ol. IX. (»f tlie series ot Tacitie iJailruad la'jtorts ; while lioui the pen nt 

 Dr. Kllintt ( 'ones, a \vell-ku<>\vii ainl eminent ornitliolou;i.st, ajtjieared in ISTl' 

 u comprehensive volume, t-ntitled '• A Key to North Amerieaii lUrds,' con- 

 taining descriptions ot the species and higher group.s. 



The leehniciil, or descriptive, matter of the present work has been i)repared 

 1»V Messrs. JJaird autl lliduwav, that relatinLt to the Ji(n>(ons entirely hv Mr. 

 Jfitlgway ; and all the accounts of the habits of the species are from the pen 

 of I)r. JJrewer. In acMition to the matter su})plied by these gentlemen, IMo- 

 fessor Theodore X. (iill has furnished that portion of the Introduction de- 

 lining the class of binls as CA.mi)ared with the other vertebrates ; while to Dr. 

 Cones is to be given the entire credit for the pages embracing the tables of 

 the Orders and Faniilie.s, as well as for the (Jlossary beginning on page r>;»o 

 of Vol. TIT. 



Nearly all the drawings of the full-length figures of birds eontaint'd in the 

 ^vork were made directly on the wood, by Mr. Edwin L. Shej)pard, of Phila- 

 deli»hia, from original sketches taken from nature; while the heads were exe- 

 cuted for the most jiart by Mr. Henry W. Elliott and Mr. IJidgway. IJoth 

 series have been ennraved l)y Mr. Hobart II. Xichols of Washinuton. The 

 generic outlines were drawn by Anton L. Scliiuiborn, and engraved by the 

 ])eculiar process of Jewett, ("handler, & Co., of lUifi'alo. All of these, it is 

 believed, si)eak for themselves, and recpiire no other connnendation. 



A considerable portion of the illustrations ^vere prepared, by the persons 

 mentioned above, for the IJeports of the Cleological Survey of California, and 

 published in the volume on Ornithology. To Professor Whitney, Chief 

 of the Survey, acknowledgments are due for the in'ivilege of includiu'^ many 

 of them in the juvsent History t»f X^orth American Birds, and also for the 

 Exjjlanation of Terms, ])age ."iUO of Vol. III. 



A few cuts, drawn l)y Wolf and engraved by Whymper, first publislied 

 in " Tiriti.sh r>irds in their Haunts,' and credited in their i>roper places, 

 were kindly furnished by the London Society for the Ditlusion of Chris- 

 tian Knowledge ; and some others prepared for an unpublished volume by 

 Dr. Blasius, on the liirds of Germany, were obtained froiu Messrs. Vieweg 

 and Son, of Rraun.schweig. 



Th(^ volume on the Water Birds is in an advanced state of preparation, 

 and will be published with the least possible delay. 



SPENCER F. BAIRD. 



Smitiksoxiax Institutiox, Washixc.ton, 

 January 8, 1874. 



