PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 3 



the world at large — a fact which should be constantly im- 

 pressed upon the mind of the naturalist while reading 

 these pages. We doubt if the annals of natural history- 

 have recorded anything on the migration of the feathered 

 tribes at all to be compared with the observations here 

 brought forward. 



Let it not be supposed that the state of our knowledge 

 concerning the Ornithology of the Bermudas at all ap- 

 proaches to completion ; on the contrary, there is ample scope 

 for the labours of the scientific naturalist and the more 

 humble observer of nature ; and, when we bear in mind 

 that the present list of migratory and accidental visitors is 

 the fruit of ten or twelve years' observation only, and that 

 experience teaches us that few, if any, of the remaining 

 American migrants, large or small, slow or feeble of wing, 

 can be unequal to the over-sea flight — marvellous though 

 it be — to those islands, we may confidently anticipate that 

 birds, hitherto unknown to the group, will continue to re- 

 ward the efforts of those who may have the energy to seek 

 for them. 



The. domestic birds found in the Bermudas are the Pea- 

 cock, Pintudo, Turkey, Common Fowl, Pigeons, Muscovy 

 and Common Ducks, and an occasional brood of the 

 Common Goose. With the exception of the latter, all 

 these birds appear to thrive in the sunny climate of those 

 isles, but the unhappy geese have a dusty and degenerate 

 look about them, .which sadly betrays the absence of fresh 

 water ponds. A hybrid between the Muscovy and Common 

 Duck is highly esteemed for the table. 



The Yellow-crested Curascow Bird is occasionally met 

 with as a domestic pet. 



J. L. H. 



