x ENTTKODITCTION. 



together, and whose author may be credited with having a wide grasp of his subject, the author 

 of a casual paper is bound to accept the conclusion of a Monographer, unless he clearly shows 

 some reason for a contrary decision. In the Nectariniidse the metallic plumage of its members 

 has proved fatal to the simplicity of its nomenclature, author after author having apparently 

 vied with one another to fix generic differences upon style of colouring alone ; and I must confess 

 that at an early stage of my work I was myself inclined to attach an importance to similar 

 characters which a more prolonged study has now compelled me to ignore. The genera which 

 I admit in the Introduction now published are even less than those recognized in the body of 

 the work, as I have become convinced of their instability in the matter of structural definition. 



When I first began the present Monograph I applied to this family the title of the Cinnyridae, 

 which I am now of opinion should be discarded for that of the Nectariniidse, Nectarinia being the 

 oldest genus ; but this is a technical point upon which much argument might be expended and 

 no assistance rendered to science. I also fell into the error of recognizing the generic title 

 Anthodioeta in the first Part of my work, in 1876. I am now convinced that it should not be 

 separated from Anthreptes. 



To avoid the inconvenience arising from the great numerical strength of the genus Cinnyris, 

 I have found it advisable to recognize smaller divisions, which, as they do not depend upon 

 structural characters, I prefer to consider groups rather than subgenera : these mostly agree with 

 genera of some of the older writers, as Cabanis and Keichenbach ; and several of the continental 

 authors of the present day still use them. 



Before concluding the Introduction, I beg to express my warmest thanks to the many 



friends who have contributed to the success of this my first ambitious endeavour to produce a 



standard work upon birds. To Mr. Bowdler Sharpe my thanks are first due for putting me in 



the right road at the commencement, and for the kind assistance he has lent me throughout 



wherever doubtful points required advice. The next to assist me was the late Marquis of 



Tweeddale, who placed the whole of his valuable collection of Sun-birds at my service: it 



includes a large number of types of the Philippine forms ; and without his assistance my work 



must have been very imperfect. To Dr. Giinther my acknowledgments are due for the assistance 



1 derived from the British-Museum collection and for the warm encouragement he gave me when 



1 began. In India I found a true friend in Mr. Allan Hume, who not only sent me home all the 



specimens I wished to examine from his large collection, but also his original notes upon this 



family, made by himself and Mr. Davison : these form a very important portion in the history of 



the Sun-birds of the Asiatic region ; so that to those two ornithologists I owe chiefly the success 



of my articles upon the Indian forms ; but my thanks are also owing to Mr. Eugene Oates for 



his assistance in treating of the Burmese species. In Turin I met with great assistance from 



my esteemed friend Count Salvadori, especially in working out the difficult Hermotimice ; and 



although I have ventured to differ from him in a few instances as to the value of some of his 



specific characters in this group, on the whole I have been much guided by his judgment, which 



I cannot too highly appreciate. On my return from Turin Dr. Meyer sent me a large series of 



