XY111 ALPHABETICAL LIST OF 



The fifth and sixth columns, headed s. and w. mean the summer and 

 winter haunts; and the following are the leading distinctions, though 

 they are necessarily vague, 



M. indicates a mountaineer, or bird which inhabits elevated places only. 



n. means a hill bird, or inhabitant of the moors which have considerable 

 elevation. 



c. means a bird of the commons, or open wastes less elevated. 



F. means a field bird, or one which inhabits the cultivated grounds. 

 w. means a woodland bird, whether of brake, copse, grove or forest. 



G. means a garden bird, or one which inhabits near houses. 



B. means a bank bird, or one which inhabits the margins of lakes, 

 streams, or pools, in reeds, or otherwise. 



N, means a fen bird, but it is applied to marshy places generally. 



s. means a shore bird, or one which is found on the beaches. 



R. means a rock bird, or one which inhabits bold clifts ; but no birds 

 find much of their food in such places. The swallow tribe are, properly 

 speaking, rock birds ; they do not inhabit chimneys and steeples, because 

 these are built by man. 



p. means a pelagic bird, or one which is discursive over the sea. 



The column s. refers to the breeding haunts of the birds; and the quali- 

 fying italics have the following meaning : s. that the birds are social or 

 breed many in the same place, d. that they are dispersed apart from each 

 other, and h. that they breed hidingly. 



The column w. refers to the winter haunts ; andy. means that the birds 

 flock, p. that they remain in packs or coveys, and *. that they are solitary. 



The numerals prefixed and affixed to either of these, point out the num- 

 bers of the months, counting from January as 1, between which the bird 

 may be looked for ; but they are vague, varying with both the place and 

 the season. 



NESTING PLACES. 



The seventh column headed N. points out the nesting places; T. means 

 in high trees, B in brakes or bushes lower down, G. on the ground but 

 concealed, F. exposed on the open surface, H. in holes, whether of trees, 

 walls, rocks, or the earth, and L. on cliffs or ledges of rocks. The kind 

 of surface is, in some measure, determined by the haunt; and no bird 

 deposits its eggs on a humid surface, as the evaporation would be propor- 

 tional to the heat, and the eggs could not be hatched. 



The italics in this column denote the character of the nest ; o. that there 

 is no formal one, r. that it is rude, n. that it is neat, and e. that it is 

 elaborate. 



These characters might have been extended ; but too many columns 

 would be apt to breed confusion. 



The last column marked P. indicates the page ; and when i. is prefixed, 

 is in the first volume. 



