v "l PREFACE. 



acknowledgment of the fact that the groups of birds which 

 fell to my lot in the " Catalogue " had been practically un- 

 worked before, and it is net in the least surprising that, in 

 monographing such difficult families as Babbling-Thrushes, 

 Finches, Starlings, &c., a close study should discover generic 

 differences, while many of the larger birds, such as Bustards 

 and Cranes, had not been monographed for many years 

 before I did them in the " Catalogue." My views are, I 

 dare say, not those of the older school of ornithologists, any 

 more than are those of Dr. Reichenow and other " German 

 friends," or those of Mr. Ridgway and Dr. Stejneger, the 

 "American cousins," who are evidently regarded by Canon 

 Tristram as the cause of my backslidings ! 



The whole question appears to me to be a very simple one. 

 Canon Tristram evidently does not like what he calls the 

 "new-fangled" ideas of some of the younger school of 

 ornithologists, because they were not in vogue in his younger 

 days, but the collections which are now in the cabinets of the 

 British Museum provide a completeness of material with 

 which our forefathers were totally unacquainted. It was 

 only to be expected that the close study involved in the 

 preparation of the " Catalogue of Birds " would result in the 

 discovery of new genera, but there is a sure test as regards 

 the calibre of our work in store for Canon Tristram, for 

 myself, and for every other writer. Future generations will 

 judge the value of our labours, and that which is good will 

 be preserved, and that which is bad will be cast into outer 

 darkness. 



I have to thank Mr. Howard Saunders, Mr. W. E. de 

 Winton, and Mr. Robert Read for assisting me with notes for 

 the present volume, and special acknowledgments are due tc 

 Count Salvador! for the notes he has given me on the Ducks 

 and Geese. 



R. BOWDLER SHARPE. 



