INTRODUCTION 



In 1896, Prof. Bruner published his list entitled "Some Notes on Nebraska 

 Birds.'' As a working basis for the study of the ornithology of the state it has 

 proven invaluable and it has also been greatly in demand by people not ornithol- 

 ogists, who desired to "know something about our birds." That edition was 

 exhausted some time ago and its author has been frequently urged to publish 

 another. However, the organization of the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union 

 and the development of ornithology in the University has led to such a rapid 

 increase in our knowledge in the past five years that it seemed that any publi- 

 cation would soon become out of date, and so no one ventured to undertake 

 the task. 



It is under these conditions that the opportunity has been offered, through 

 the kindness of Ex-Governor'Furnas, Secretary of the State Board of Agricul- 

 ture and an enthusiastic member of the Union, to prepare something on the 

 birds of the state. It seemed too good an opportunity to be lost, and yet, 

 under the circumstances, the authors of this contribution feel that it can only 

 be considered, as its title states, as a preliminary review. 



It should be understood, nevertheless, preliminary in one sense as it is, that 

 it has been prepared with the greatest care, and is believed to represent exactly 

 the state of our knowledge at the present day. Every species has been care- 

 fully considered, the specimens available examined, its occurrence in surround- 

 ing states studied, the records in Bruner's list thoroughly canvassed, as well 

 as all data which have accumulated since, and the whole reduced to such 

 statements as indicate clearly the limits of our knowledge in regard to the 

 form under consideration. ' All specimens about which there could be any 

 doubt were sent to authorities east for exact determination. Those species 

 that have been previously reported from Nebraska but the right of which to a 

 place in our fauna is questioned or denied have been introduced, but in brack- 

 ets. There have also been added under the phrase "extralimital" those 

 species which may possibly be found in the state in the future. 



This introduction of extralimital forms and their inclusion in the synopses 

 has been thought desirable for the reason that many of them are almost 

 sure to be found sooner or later, and this calling attention to them may 

 result in their earlier detection and addition to our list. The aim has been 

 to prepare a work which should not only reflect the present state of our 

 knowledge, but at the same time be a new basis for future work. For the 

 same reason all species which are known definitely to have bred within our 

 limits are marked with an asterisk. It will be evident to the reader that 

 the addition of the figures showing the details of bird structure and the 

 article on Birds in relation to Agriculture and Horticulture, as well as of the 

 synopses themselves, is in order that the paper may be useful to any one, 

 whether an ornithologist or not, and may be the means of further increasing 



