INTUODrOTION. 3 



their existence. Birds have also definite relations to past time 

 — relations which are revealed to us by their fossil remains 

 preserved in diflferent strata of the earth's crust. 



The more numerous any set of objects may be, the more 

 necessary it is to arrange them in groups — i. e., to classify 

 them. "Without this it is impossible for us to study and com- 

 prehend such objects. As Birds are very numerous in their 

 kinds, their classification is especially necessary, while the 

 very uniformity of their structure makes that process especially 

 difficult. Nevertheless, the study of their classification is a very 

 interesting one, on account of their structure, their powers, 

 the geographical relations of different kinds of Birds and their 

 relations vrith the past history of our planet. 



Thus the science of Ornithology deals with the structure, 

 functions, external relations, and classification of Birds. But 

 in order that the student may be able to study these subjects 

 profitably, he should possess some preliminary acquaintance 

 with a considerable number of different kinds of Birds. He 

 will again and again meet with the .names of different kinds, and 

 of groups of kinds, of Birds ; and no advance in Ornithological 

 knowledge can be made by a reader who, when he meets with 

 any such name, is not provided with a corresponding mental 

 image sufficiently distinct to enable him to group his freshly 

 acquired knowledge around it. 



Our first task, therefore, shall be to place before the student 

 the names and figures of such a number of Birds of difierent 

 kinds as may enable him to acquire a certain preliminary grasp 

 of his subject — the subject-matter of his subsequent study. It 

 will be well, however, that, the reader, after having perused 

 this introduction, should repair to some Zoological Garden or 

 Museum, and there acquaint himself more fully with the external 

 aspect of the Birds here referred to. Failing this, the next best 

 thing he can do is to carefully examine all the good pictures of 

 Birds he can get access to. 



It is always well to advance from the better known to the 

 less known or unknown. We will therefore begin with that 

 Bird which must be most familiar to al our readers — the 

 Common Fowl. 



All the various breeds of this animal have been derived from 

 one or more wild species — Jungle-fowls — which have their 

 home in India and the Indian Archipelago, but were introduced 

 into Europe in very ancient times. 



B 2 



