PREFACE. 



wearied personal observation in the field and the forest, 

 and for the most part written in the several haunts of 

 the birds described, and free from the harsh, and, in a 

 measure, unmeaning technicalities with which at the 

 present time ornithology is so pervaded, to the utter 

 confusion of every aspirant to this delightful science. 



If, through a perusal of this unpretending little 

 volume, I may be the remote cause of sending . a few 

 fresh labourers into the vineyard of ornithology, my 

 labours have not been in vain, and it will please me much. 

 Should the then intending ornithologist wish for a more 

 technical insight into the science he has adopted, I re- 

 commend him to acquaint himself with one of the few 

 useful exhaustive works on this science, where he will 

 obtain the information he seeks. 



My object in giving publicity to this little work has 

 been solely to excite a love for the study of the feathered 

 tribes — to place in a popular form the true economy of 

 birds, showing their relations and positions in Nature's 

 great system ; and to thee, gentle reader, I leave the 

 task of saying if I have succeeded. With these few 

 remarks I commit it to your considerate care. 



CHARLES DIXON. 



Heeley, near Sheffield 



