XXV111 



INTRODUCTION. 



due for aid rendered as regards the several groups which they have made their study. I must 



not forget to acknowledge the assistance rendered to me by Mr. F. H. Waterhouse, Librarian of 



the Zoological Society, in answering my frequent queries as to references and data from the 



many scientific works required to be consulted, and which, from time to time, I omitted to 



collect while prosecuting my studies in London. Mr. Iloldsworth's kindness in giving me access 



to his valuable collection of Ceylon birds, and also benefiting me by his opinion on matters 



connected with island distribution &c, has been of much service to me. The premature death 



of the late Marquis of Tweeddale, and the consequent closing to the scientific world for the 



time being of his collection, was no small loss to the author, who was at the time just entering 



on the study of the Passerine birds, and reaping the advantage of that correspondence which this 



distinguished ornithologist was always ready to enter into with his brother naturalists. By this 



untoward event an anticipated visit to the magnificent collection at Yester, which, on a former 



trip I had only time to glance at, was also put aside. On his return to England from Afghanistan, 



Captain Wardlaw Ramsay, into whose possession the collection passed, kindly lent me such 



specimens connected with the Third Part of the work as I required. To Canon Tristram, also, 



I am indebted for the loan of eggs and skins of several interesting species. I have likewise to 



acknowledge, with thanks, the receipt of information on various points from Herr Meyer, of 



the Royal Museum at Dresden, Herr Von Pelzeln of the Imperial Museum at Vienna, and 



Mr. Edward Nolan, Secretary of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia. From a 



still more distant region, New Caledonia, I have had the advantage of correspondence with my 



enthusiastic forerunner in the field of Ceylon ornithology, Edgar Layard, who from time to 



time supplied me with details of his old experiences in the island. 



Last, but not least, I must acknowledge with gratitude the aid I have received from my 



correspondents in India and Ceylon. Of the former I must mention particularly Mr. Allan Hume, 



C.B., and likewise not omit the names of Mr. Blanford, F.R.S., President of the Asiatic Society 



of Bengal, Captain Butler, 83rd Regt., and Dr. Edie, of the Madras Museum. In Ceylon my 



valued correspondents Messrs. Bligh and Parker, Ceylon Public Works Department, kept me 



constantly supplied with new material concerning the habits and nidification of many species : 



the former furnished me with copious notes on hill-birds, while the latter worked hard on the 



little-known districts of the north-west, and, being a most enthusiastic lover of birds and a close 



observer of Nature, the information supplied by him has been most valuable. In point of fact 



the better part of the Appendices is made up of material supplied by this gentleman from the 



Manaar district, where he has recently gone to be stationed. To Messrs. H. Mac Vicar, Forbes 



Laurie, R. Wickham, L. Holden, E. Cobbold, Captain Wade-Dalton, and other gentlemen now 



or formerly resident in the island, I am indebted for notes on the habits and local distribution 



of several interesting species. In conclusion, I am constrained to remark that had others among 



my Subscribers corresponded as vigorously with me during the progress of the work as 



Messrs. Bligh, Parker, and MacVicar, much more local information would have been contained 



in it. 



W. V. L. 



