PREFACE VU 



some extent drawn from published memoirs ; but the 

 majority of them, especially those relating to osteology and 

 muscular anatomy, have been verified' by myself ; and I have 

 also laid under heavy contribution the note books of my two 

 predecessors already mentioned. Some of the more import- 

 ant of these facts are illustrated by woodcuts and ' process ' 

 blocks ; for these I am indebted to the liberality of the 

 Publication Committee of the Zoological Society of London 

 and to the editors of the ' Ibis.' 



Finally, I regret to have to acknowledge that in several 

 instances I have used two names for the same bird, a fact 

 which I did not discover in every case until it was too late 

 for alteration in the text. I hope, however, thajt any diffi- 

 culties arising from this error on my part will be obviated by 

 the cross references in the Index. 



FEANK E. BEDDAED. 



Juhj 1898. 



