PREFACE. IX 



and G. F. L. Marshall, E. W. Gates, G. Reid, J. Scully, 

 and G. W. Vidal ; there are also some papers from European 

 ornithologists, especially Messrs. R. B. Sharpe and J. H. 

 Gurney. An important aid to ornithology in general has 

 been furnished by the British Museum Catalogue of Birds, 

 written by Messrs. R. B. Sharpe, by whom the greater part has 

 been contributed, H. Seebohm, H. Gadow, and P. L. Sclater. 

 Some valuable contributions to the ornithology of Burma, 

 founded on the collections made by Mr. Fea, have lately been 

 published by Count T. Salvadori in the ' Annali del Museo 

 Civico, Genoa/ 



Hitherto the progress of Indian ornithology may be divided 

 into two periods ; the first of which, ending with the publi- 

 cation of Jerdon's work, was especially signalized by the 

 labours of Hodgson, Jerdon, and Blyth, whilst in the more 

 recent period the dominant figure has been Mr. Hume. 



The addition to the present work of any anatomical details 

 beyond those that are essential for classification would involve 

 too great a demand upon the limited space available. An 

 excellent sketch by Prof. W. K. Parker will be found in the 

 last (ninth) edition of the ' Encyclopaedia Britannica/ under 

 the article " Birds" (vol. iii, p. 699). A general account 

 of the osteology by Mr. R. Lydekker was published at the 

 beginning of the eighth volume of ' Stray Feathers/ For 

 more complete descriptions the student may turn to Bronn's 

 1 Klassen und Ordnungen des Thier-reichs ; Aves/ by Selenka 

 and Gadow. Numerous details will also be found in papers 

 by Garrod and Forbes in the ' Proceedings ' of the Zoological 

 Society ; and a work in two large quarto volumes, by 

 M. Fiirbringer, has recently been published in Amsterdam. 

 A diagram showing the terms applied to parts of the plumage 

 will be found on page xi. 



The division of the class Aves into orders will be discussed 



