IV • INTRODUCTION . 



To supply these particular necessities is the object of the 

 present work; and on this account no attempt has been made 

 to travel beyond the limits indicated by giving descriptions 

 of the species or dilating upon their haunts, habits, seasonal 

 changes of plumage, migrations, or geographical distribution. 

 These and many other details may be derived from the sources 

 above mentioned, and wiU doubtless be worked out more 

 fully and more satisfactorily than ever in the forthcoming 

 new edition of YarrelVs work, for which English naturalists 

 are anxiously expectant. 



Under these circumstances it is hoped that this Handbook 

 will be regarded not in any sense as intended to rival or sup- 

 plant existing or forthcoming text-books on the subject, but 

 to assist students in a manner and to an extent which has 

 not been contemplated in the works referred to. The claims 

 of species to rank as British, the proper scientific names 

 which each should bear, the habitat of the rarer visitants, and 

 the frequency or otherwise of their occurrence are points to 

 which attention is almost exclusively directed in the following 

 pages. To obtain accurate and reliable details upon these 

 points no labour has been spared, no source of information 

 neglected; and although it is not pretended that no errors 

 have escaped detection, yet it is believed that upon investiga- 

 tion these will be found to be but few and comparatively un- 

 important. In a great measure this must be said to be due 

 to the assistance which the author has derived from his friends 

 and fellow workers in the field of ornithology during the 

 time that the work has been in progress ; and on this account 

 his thanks are especially due to Professor Newton, Mr. J. H. 

 Gurney, Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., Mr. Stevenson, and Mr. 

 Robert Gray, aU of whom have cooperated, at no inconsider- 

 able expenditure of time and trouble, in replying to numerous 

 inquiries, and furnishing important information. It is need- 



