THE MOSS BIRDS. 



many which have escaped my notice, many are insufficiently 

 identified, and one or two occurred so many years ago that they 

 can hardly be honestly claimed as Formby Birds. Scores of 

 rare birds have been killed in the district, and probably have 

 been plucked and eaten in years gone by,* when ornithologists 

 were few and far between ; but I don't think a single rare 

 example which has been shot since 1870 has been omitted from 

 these pages ; and to all the authorities whom I have quoted in 

 this little book, I tender my most hearty thanks for the assistance 

 they have afforded me. I also wish to add, that I hope the 

 reader has not been greatly puzzled by my constant reference to 

 my father's notes ; but as I have merely finished a task which my 

 father was busy on almost up to a few weeks before his death, it 

 has been very awkward arranging his papers and lectures, all of 

 which were written in "the first person." 



*The Formby men are great eaters. Their fame in this line has spread far .and^ wide, a_s the 

 llowing story will show. Two of the inhabitants once entered a small restaurant in Liverpool, in the 



foil 



bribed them at two shillings and sixpence each, to go out ; as he knew they could tackle a sovereign's 

 worth without turning a hair. 



