Introduction 



expert taxidermist,* which represent the birds in characteristic attitudes, sometimes 

 modified, however, to positions best calculated to display plumage marks. Of course, 

 the absence of color will be regretted. But colored plates are costly, and the object here 

 has been to make an inexpensive book. Photography cannot, as yet, reproduce color, 

 but it may, aided by description, indicate it. 



Ninety specimens have been selected and described, all of them males, and all repre- 

 senting varieties so abundant that any person may surely find them if he chooses to seek. 

 Of these birds, sixty-four portraits have been given. The descriptions, it is hoped, will be 

 found to be trustworthy, although there is no pretense in them of exhaustive detail. The 

 aim has been to furnish sufficient data to serve the purpose of identification, while avoid- 

 ing the danger of confusion. The book has been put into such form as to be conveniently 

 taken into the field for the learner's use, while he is actually regarding the living bird. It 

 is not expected to take the place of a larger Manual, but to be supplementary to such a 

 work. A complete Ornithological Treatise is a desirable possession for the bird-lover 

 from the start, and it will become gradually indispensable to him as he grows in knowledge 



* J. Wallace, 16 North William St., New York City. 

 6 



