PBEFACE. 



I BELIEVE it is not often that young persons trouble 

 themselves to read the preface of any book which 

 is put into their hands. I hope, however, the 

 readers of this little work will give an attentive 

 perusal to its preface, since it will be found to 

 contain useful information which would not be so 

 suitably given elsewhere. 



Probably you may expect, in a book on British 

 ^birds, that mention should be made of those you 

 see in the farm-yard, such as the turkey, the 

 peacock, the common fowl, and others. Now, 

 these birds, which are what we call " domestic 

 fowls," are not natives of our country, nor volun- 

 tary sojourners here, living in a state of nature, and 

 providing for their own sustenance. They are 

 foreigners, dependent on man for their daily 



