INTRODUCTION. v ji 



sport, but for their daily bread, should command respect It is 

 just now painfully popular to misrepresent and malign the so- 



3d " pot-hunters ;" yet these dear old fellows taught us pretty 

 .uch all we know about hunting, and from them ornithology 

 has gathered its most important contributions. 



I have tried to describe the species in as simple English as 

 possible, because I think this freedom from technicalities will be 

 grateful to many. Few, even among our most intelligent col- 

 lege-bred sportsmen, can form a very clear idea of a bird's ap- 

 pearance from the " shop-talk " of scientists, even though pro- 

 vided with a glossary ; and it may be broadly stated, with quite 

 a showing of truth, that the descriptions commonly encountered 

 in ornithological works (particularly those of to-day) are only 

 intelligible to those who do not need them. 



To further avoid obscurity. I will say that the term "young,'' 

 us used in my descriptions, refers not to the downy young or 

 the fledglings, but to those birds which have attained, or nearly 

 attained, adult size, and which differ or not, according to their 

 species and sex, from one or both of the old birds. 



I will also explain exactly how the measurements "length*' 

 and extent" are obtained. To ascertain the first, lay the bird 

 on its back, hold tip of bill even with edge of table with one 

 hand, pull back the legs with your other hand, and note the 

 point reached by end of longest tail-feather. To ascertain " ex- 

 tent," spread the wings fully out (the bird still on its back), 

 holding tip of one wing flush with edge of table (or other start- 

 ing-point), and note point reached by the other wing-tip. This 

 measurement has nothing to do with how far the bird itself 

 spread its wings, but shows how far we can spread them, without 

 interfering in the least with construction or natural possibilities. 



It may be also well to state here, that the colors of bills and 

 legs given are those of life. In a .short time after death (some- 

 times in a few hours) these colors, particularly those of the 

 bills, change very materially, the brighter hues giving place to 

 a more and more uniform and duskv tint. 



