ii Preface. 



has been, it appears to me, the one great reason why ornithology has 

 not made the advance in Canada that it has in other countries, I take 

 this opportunity of drawing attention to the matter. 



Lest the reader might think that my idea of the extent and import- 

 ance of the work yet required is exaggerated, I will quote some extracts 

 bearing on this subject from letters of prominent Naturalists who have 

 made a special study of American birds. These letters were addressed 

 to me privately, and were not written for publication, but as the matter 

 is exceedingly instructive, coming from such eminent authorities, I have 

 asked permission to print it. 



The following is from the pen of Prof. J. A. Allen, of the American 

 Museum of Natural History, New York, who has been President of the 

 American Ornithologists' Union ever since its formation, and who takes 

 rank among the foremost of American Zoologists. Prof Allen writes: 



"I have long watched with interest the reports of the Canadian Sur- 

 vey, and have been disappointed to find the Natural History portion of 

 the work receiving so small a share of attention, where the field is so 

 inviting and as yet so little worked. The birds and mammals of British 

 North America offer a particularly attractive field for research. While 

 we know in a general way what species occur there, and somewhat of 

 their distribution, many problems of exceeding interest in relation to 

 North American birds and mammals can be settled satisfactorily only 

 by means of extensive field-work and large series of specimens gathered 

 in the great regions north of the United States. It is in this vast terri- 

 tory we are to look for many of the connecting links between various 

 northern forms of birds and mammals. In respect to the latter we are 

 especially lacking in material, the want of which seriously interferes 

 with intelligent work. Doubtless not a few new species, and a con- 

 siderable number of new sub-species, await discovery in Canadian terri- 

 tory; while our knowledge of the manner of occurrence and distribution 

 of the birds and mammals generally in this region is extremely unsatis- 

 factory. No portion of this continent north of Mexico offers so inviting 

 a region for natural history exploration as the great northern interior, 

 where only the most superficial harvest has been reaped." 



Dr. Elliott Coues, of Washington, whose brilliant scholarship has 

 so enriched the literature of American ornithology, and who is the best 

 known in Canada of recent authorities, writes to me thus : 



