11 PREFACE TO THE FIFTH EDITION. 



and I have tried, with more or less of success, to set be- 

 fore the student the essential characters of each group. 



The present edition is wholly re-written and it is 

 printed from new stereotype plates. The order of ar- 

 rangement is reversed, the lowest forms being placed 

 first. 



The region covered by the Manual has been extended 

 in the present edition so as to include, in addition, Mis- 

 souri, Iowa, Minnesota, the Provinces of Canada, and the 

 sea-coast from Nova Scotia to Cape Hatteras. The deep- 

 sea fishes of this region are, however, omitted, as well as 

 the tropical and semi-tropical forms which occasionally 

 drift northward in the Gulf Stream, without gaining any 

 permanent place in the northern fauna. Several species 

 of birds which have been once or twice taken in our limits, 

 but which are merely accidental wanderers from the West 

 or South or from Europe, have also been omitted. I have 

 wished to include only those animals which really form a 

 part of the fauna of the region in question. 



I have made free use of every available source of infor- 

 mation, and I believe that the present state of our knowl- 

 edge in this field is fairly represented. The arrangement 

 of the fishes is essentially that of Jordan and Gilbert's 

 " Synopsis of the Fishes of North America " (1883), and, 

 almost exactly that of Jordan's " Catalogue of the Fishes 

 of North America " (1886). The manuscript of the fresh 

 water fishes, in the present edition, has been carefully re- 

 vised by Prof. Charles H. Gilbert. 



The arrangement of the Batrachians and Eeptiles is 

 essentially that set forth in the various papers of Prof. 

 Edward D. Cope. I have made use of Boulenger's Cata- 

 logues of the Eeptiles in the British Museum, and of the 

 " Catalogue of North American Batrachia and Reptilia " 

 by N. S. Davis and Frank L. Rice. The manuscripts of 

 the Reptiles and Batrachians have been revised by Prof. 

 O. P. Hay. 



