vi PREFACE. 



our British Game Birds and Wild Fowl have been separated by 

 the endless segregating process of Evolution, working as surely 

 at the present day as it has undoubtedly worked in past ages, 

 and will continue to work in ages yet to come. 



Of course, in a work of the present nature, I have had to 

 rely much upon the labours of other naturalists ; but in every 

 case where such has been necessary I have sought the highest, 

 the latest, and the most trustworthy authorities for the infor- 

 mation required ; whilst my own more than twenty years' expe- 

 rience in the study of Ornithology, both from the scientist's 

 and the field-naturalist's point of view, has been of incalculable 

 service in assisting me to separate the sound wheat of reliable 

 knowledge from the unstable chaff of ignorance and error. The 

 last twenty years have been eventful ones for Ornithology, fraught 

 with discoveries and pregnant with importance, not only respect- 

 ing the economy of British species, but with the past history of 

 all birds, much light having been thrown on their affinities and 

 origin. The classification of birds is still in a most unsatisfactory 

 state, although the great and ever-increasing attention that the 

 subject is receiving must ultimately result in some uniformity of 

 opinion. At present no two recognised authorities agree in 

 their estimation of the taxonomic value of respective characters. 

 Among the latest systems elaborated may be mentioned those of 

 Dr. Sclater, Professor Newton, the late Mr. Forbes, the late 

 Professor Garrod, Dr. Reichenow, Professor Coues, Dr. Stejneger, 

 Mr. Seebohm, and last, and perhaps most important of all, the 

 great work of Professor Fiirbringer. I have had an opportunity 

 of studying each of these important Avian classifications, and it 

 is quite needless to remark the wide, nay almost hopeless and 

 bewildering divergence of opinion expressed by their talented 

 authors and compilers. Until some sort of uniformity of opinion 

 is arrived at, the arrangement of species in a work like the 

 present appears to me to be a matter of little importance ; for the 

 classification of yesterday that you may adopt to-day is out of 

 date and antiquated to-morrow. The whole subject of classifica- 

 tion, at present, is in a violent state of eruption ; one would think 

 that scientists had " lost their heads." Fortunately the scope of 

 the present volume calls for no elaborate classification, and the 



