xii INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. 



reader, to give you some idea of my mode of executing the ori- 

 ginal drawings, from which the Illustrations have been taken ; 

 and I sincerely hope that the perusal of these lines may excite 

 in you a desire minutely to examine them. 



Merely to say, that each object of my Illustrations is of the 

 size of nature, were too vague — for to many it might only con- 

 vey the idea that they are so, more or less, according as the eye 

 of the delineator may have been more or less correct in mea- 

 surement simply obtained through that medium ; and of avoid- 

 ing error in this respect I am particularly desirous. Not only 

 is every object, as a whole, of the natural size, but also every 

 portion of each object. The compass aided me in its delinea- 

 tion, regulated and corrected each part, even to the very fore- 

 shortening which now and then may be seen in the figures. 

 The bill, the feet, the legs, the claws, the very feathers as they 

 project one beyond another, have been accurately measured. 

 The birds, almost all of them, were killed by myself, after I had 

 examined their motions and habits, as much as the case admit- 

 ted, and were regularly drawn on or near the spot where I 

 prociu-ed them. The positions may, perhaps, in some instances, 

 appear outre ; but such supposed exaggerations can afford sub- 

 ject of criticism only to persons unacquainted with the feathered 

 tribes ; for, believe me, nothing can be more transient or varied 

 than the attitudes or positions of birds. The Heron, when 

 warming itself in the sun, will sometimes drop its wings several 

 inches, as if they were dislocated ; the Swan may often be seen 

 floating with one foot extended from the body ; and some Pi- 

 geons, you well know, turn quite over, when playing in the air. 

 The flowers, plants, or portions of trees which are attached to 

 the principal objects, have been chosen from amongst those in 



