PREFACE. xvii 



of these precautions, he has employed much the same words 

 as other writers in' describing the same facts. The biogra- 

 phies of the game-birds have been contributed by a friend, 

 except those of the Canada and Pinnated Grouse. 



The author has endeavored to mention in detail the ordi- 

 nary or minor notes of various birds, since these are often 

 more satisfactorily characteristic than musical notes, which 

 are usually heard during a limited portion of the year. He 

 has, moreover, endeavored, when possible, to convey an idea 

 of several songs through the medium of words, but he has 

 generally been obliged to employ other means, since it is dif- 

 ficult to do the former satisfactorily. It is probable that, 

 were a dozen persons asked to express verbally any music of 

 this kind, they would each employ different syllables. Many 

 birds have two or three easily distinguishable combinations of 

 musical sounds, or in different districts of the country have 

 songs which are very distinct. The notes of many Warblers, 

 particularly those occurring in Massachusetts as migrants 

 only, need to be learned and studied more than those of any 

 other group of our avifauna. The author does not pretend 

 to have treated these completely or satisfactorily, the less so 

 that he has lost several memoranda. The Warblers sing, 

 however, during their migrations in spring, particularly in 

 the early morning, more than many naturalists suppose. Mr. 

 Allen, in the preface to his "Notes on some of the Rarer 

 Birds of Massachusetts," makes the following admirable and 

 instructive remarks on the variation in birds' songs, distribu- 

 tion, etc. 



" Only by knowing thoroughly the fauna of a locality can 

 the subsequent changes in it, induced by its becoming more 

 densely settled, or by other causes, be traced. As is well 

 known, the mammalian and bird faunae of all the older settled 

 parts of the United States are vastly different from what 



the author has satisfied himself with which he cannot personally attest, such 

 corroborating the statements of others, as that Vultures feed chiefly on carrion, 

 instead of mahing statements based etc. These cases are principally con- 

 entirely upon his own authority and fined to remarks on distribution and 

 experience. He has not hesitated, habitat, 

 however, to state very general facts. 



