PREFACE. 



THE object proposed in this volume is, in the first place, to present 

 our young readers with a complete and systematic list of our 

 British Birds : the word British being taken to mean such as, 

 being truly wild birds, either inhabit Britain throughout the year, 

 visit Britain statedly for longer or shorter periods of each year, 

 or have been proved to reach the shores of Britain two or three 

 times or oftener, under the pressure of any incidental circumstances 

 whatever. 



In the next place, the attempt has been made to distinguish at 

 once between the rare or casual visitors, and such as are really 

 denizens of the Land, whether for a few weeks or months annually, 

 or by unbroken habitation. 



But the principal object and intention of the book is to present 

 accurate and trustworthy accounts of the Nests and Nesting-sites, 

 the Eggs, and any ascertained nesting or breeding-season pecu- 

 liarities of every undoubtedly British-breeding species. And the 

 author's difficulty has often been out of the large mass of available 

 materials at his command, acquired by personal observation or 

 from the reading and notes of many years, to select what might 

 be instructive, interesting or amusing, without burdening the 

 book with unnecessary details, or encroaching too much on the 

 allotted space. 



The principle adopted in the illustrations has been to omit all 

 representations of eggs either white or nearly white in colour, in 

 order to husband space for the admission of a greater number of 

 those characterised by varied colours and markings. On the same 

 ground, although it was earnestly desired by the artist to give more 



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