INTRODUCTION 



This volume on the Life Histories of North American Birds, hke the one 

 preceding, is based on the collections in the United States National Museum, 

 and relates only to land birds. The classification given in the Code and Check 

 List of the American Ornithologists' Union has again been followed, and the 

 species and subspecies have been treated in a manner similar to that adopted 

 in the earlier volume. 



Since the publication of the initial volume the oological collection has 

 been very materially increased. Dr. William L. Ralph, of Utica, New York, 

 has, with commendable liberality, presented his entire collection, numbering 

 over seven thousand specimens, to the Smithsonian. Institution. This contains 

 beautifully prepared sets of the eggs of many of the rarer si^ecies, quite a 

 number of which have heretofore been um-epresented. To this collection our 

 generous friend is constantly adding, regardless of expense. 



My thanks are especially due to Dr. Ralph and to my numerous corre- 

 spondents whose names appear in the body of this volume; by the kind 

 cooperation of these gentlemen I have been greatly aided in the preparation of 

 this work. ■ I am also indebted to the United States Department of Agriculture 

 for the many courtesies extended through Dr. C. Hart Merriam, who has given 

 me access to the collections and furnished me with the results of the investiga- 

 tions made by this Department. 



The original water-color drawings from which the plates have been repro- 

 duced, like those of the former volume, are the work of Mr. John L. Ridgway, 

 of Washington, District of Columbia, and of the same standard of excellence. 

 The chromo-lithographic rejoroductions are by the Ketterlinus Printing Com- 

 pany, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and I am pleased to be able to say that 

 they come up fully to my expectations. The illustrations are all natural size. 



The Author. 



