Preface 



grad Society of Naturalists under Mr. D. M. 

 Rossinsky and Professor D. N. Kaigorodov ; 

 in France by MM, Cunisset-Carnot, Rebous- 

 sin, and Edmond Perrier ; in Germany by 

 Veterinary Surgeon Dr. Reuter ; in America 

 by Dr. Arthur Allan, head of Cornell Univer- 

 sity ; and probably other authorities, of whom 

 I am unaware, have contributed to the sub- 

 ject. I can claim nothing original for my 

 observations ; the majority of the notes I 

 quote appeared anonymously in newspapers, 

 but some are by recognised authorities such 

 as Messrs. Charles Dixon, A. H. Patterson, 

 Thoburn Clarke, Oliver G. Pike, and Miss 

 E. L. Turner. 



For lack of better arrangement I have 

 arranged my notes in five chapters, divided 

 again into twelve sections, which seem more 

 or less to cover the subject as I have dealt 

 with it. There are, however, some ramifica- 

 tions which remain untraced and it has been 

 impossible to utilise all of my notes. For 

 example, when writing of the utility of birds, 

 I have omitted to state that the New Zealand 

 Government sent a quantity of SWANS' quills, 



viii 



