IV' PREFACE. 



hopes of its being' useful in its present crude and un- 

 finished state^ than of its serving as a stepping-stone 

 to something better. The principal drudgery of the 

 work is over ; and any good ornithologist, possessing 

 far more perseverance and science than myself, might, 

 I think, by amending the errors and making some 

 additions^ set a stamp on the paper and render it 

 truly valuable. Were there, for instance, two or three 

 columns placed on the right hand of each page, one 

 giving the length in inches^ another the prevailing 

 colour, and a third the habitat, it would add but 

 little to the bulk, while the student would generally 

 be enabled nearly at a glance to fix on the bird he 

 wished to find. For instance, if in the column of 

 length he saw 10, he would at once know whether it 

 corresponded with the length of the bird under his 

 inspection, and this might prevent his searching- 

 through many books for birds of 20 or 30 inches in 

 length. A slight abbreviation, as Blk. (Black), 

 Wh. (White), Br. (Brown), &c. to denote the pre- 

 vailing colour, and Eur. (Europe), N. H. (New Hol- 

 land), &c., for the habitat, might still further assist 

 the student in discovering the object of his search. 



A work of this kind, even from the hand of a good 

 ornithologist, can never be perfect, as new works are 

 constantly appearing containing valuable accounts 

 of new and interesting species; but by a little atten- 

 tion in adding tlie references as they appear, for 

 which a space is left at the end of each genus, 1 think 

 that were the work originally good, it would amply 

 repav the trouble. 



