PREFACE. 
_—e oo 
2 ETWEEN the issue of Parts 1 to 5, and the 
final number of this volume, there has been un- 
~ y fg 
eS 
fortunately a great gulf in time—a hiatus valde 
deflendus. 
The fact simply is, not that I have in any way lost my 
interest in Ornithology, but that the pressure of other work, 
which to me seems the more important of the two, has entirely 
prevented my giving any time whatsoever either to Birds or to 
“ Stray Feathers.” 
However, under the friendly pressure of old supporters, I 
have nerved myself to do this much, viz., first to issue this 6th 
number of Vol. X and so complete it ; and, secondly, to publish 
as Vol. XI my very long paper on the birds of Manipore, 
Assam, Sylhet and Cachar, which has lain upon my table ever 
since September, 1881, and which, although doubtless obsolete 
in some respects, will, I am assured, be useful as a platform on 
which others may commence real work. 
ALLAN HUME. 
