INTRODUCTION. 



In accordance with the request of the Board of Managers 

 of The Natural History Survey of The Chicago Academy of 

 Sciences, I have prepared the following annotated catalogue 

 of the birds which have been taken or are positively known to 

 occur within the limits of our region. I am especially under 

 obligation for assistance to Mr. J. Grafton Parker, of Chicago, 

 who has been my almost constant companion in the work of 

 the field. Mr. Parker has the most exhaustive notes and the 

 most extensive collection of birds from our area that I know of. 

 I am also indebted to the following persons, who have furnished 

 many valuable notes and suggestions: Mr. B. T. Gault, of 

 Glen Ellyn, a very careful observer who furnished many valu- 

 able notes from the northern section of Illinois ; Mr. Robert 

 Ridgway, Curator of Birds at the Smithsonian Institution, Wash- 

 ington; Dr. J. A. Allen, of the American Museum of Natural 

 History, New York; Mr. Eliot Blackwelder, of the State Uni- 

 versity, Madison, Wisconsin; Dr. Claude Tollman, Mr. Ruthven 

 Deane, Mrs. Agnes Chase, Mr. John F. Ferry, Mr. O. M. 

 Schantz, Mr. F. S. Dayton, Mr. Herbert E. Walter, Miss Amalie 

 Hamnig and Mr. Edward B. Clark, of Chicago ; Professor S. A. 

 Forbes, State University, Champaign, Illinois ; Mr. A. W. Butler, 

 Indianapolis, Indiana; Mr. Otto Widman, Old Orchard, Mis- 

 souri, and Mr. Frank C. Baker, Curator of The Chicago Acad- 

 emy of Sciences. My thanks are due to Mr. Alexander C. 

 Patterson for the use of a number of photographs of the Chicago 

 Area. 



I am especially indebted to Professor William K. Higley, 

 Secretary of The Chicago Academy of Sciences, who has very 

 kindly edited the manuscript, and has also rendered very valuable 

 assistance in compiling the bibliography. Through the kindness 

 of Mr. George H. Laflin my own collection of birds, made dur- 

 ing several years of work in the fields of our area, is now in 

 the Museum of the Academy. 



The popular synonyms, which are of considerable importance, 

 while obtained from many sources, have been largely taken from 

 Dr. Ridgway's valuable report on the birds of Illinois, published 

 by the State under the title "The Ornithology of Illinois." 



