PEEFACE. 



Tins concluding volume of " FAMILIAR WILD BIRDS " 

 contains still more examples than its predecessor of birds 

 which are, alas, ' ' familiar " no longer. May it prove, 

 perchance, that to make some of these now rarer 

 denizens of Britain better known is to secure for them 

 some better protection from that final extinction which 

 has already overtaken not a few; and may this attempt 

 to convey some idea of the wonderful variety of bird-life 

 help to promote the loving study rather than the total 

 destruction of those " wild birds " that remain. 



To a General Index is added, at the request of many 

 subscribers, a classified scientific index of the birds de- 

 scribed in all the four volumes, arranged according to the 

 most recent system. 



